Learning to Talk to Each Other

You can’t have a sitcom about a family without failed communication as the principal comedic device. Homer misreads a note left by Marge and hilarity ensues. Archie calls Edith a “dingbat” and the audience chuckles. Marcia tries to manipulate her brothers and sisters while Alice talks her out of it. Sarcasm is the currency for Rosanne and the Connors. Lucy lies to Ricky. Again. And we laugh. But what works for a sitcom isn’t necessarily the best practice in your home. How we talk to each other in real families matters because it reveals what is in our hearts. The biting sarcasm, lying, anger, yelling, and self-centredness in how characters talk to each other in sitcoms has no place in our homes. We need to learn how to talk to each other in a way that is pure and life-affirming.

God designed the family, and he has given us the principles of communication we need both to honour him in our speech and to have the awesome family he intends for us. This is a family whose words are: “fitly spoken…like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11); “always…gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6); “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15); and not letting any “corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Imagine that describing your home! It is God’s plan (and very possible) for you and your family to learn how to talk to each other in a loving, God-honouring way.

Sermon Notes

The Fam: God’s Plan for Your Home to Be Awesome
Learning to Talk to Each Other
January 20, 2019

It is God’s plan (and very possible) for you and your family to learn how to talk to each other in a loving, God-honouring way.

• Acknowledge the problem (Proverbs 18:21; James 3:5–8; 4:1)

• Check your attitude before you speak (Matthew 12:34-37; Galatians 5:22–23)

• Listen more; talk less (Proverbs 10:19; 18:2, 13; 21:23; James 1:19)

• Choose your words carefully and watch your non-verbals (Proverbs 15:1–2; 25:11–12; Colossians 4:6)

• Keep it pure and life-affirming (Proverbs 12:18; Ephesians 4:15, 29)