Sweet Or Sour
I love a good car game! My kids taught me how to play “Sweet or Sour”: everyone in the car waves and smiles at passing drivers, and if they wave back, they’re sweet and if not, they’re sour! It’s quite amusing to see the varying degrees of sweetness and sour-ness, LOL!
I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.
They might’ve had a bad day…
OR their hormones could be out of whack…
OR they have a strong aversion to overly friendly strangers👋 !
This game got me thinking…most people are sweet, believe it or not, but the sour ones are determined to be so!
I heard a wise lady say, “You can be at home, acting a fool, yelling and getting out of hand, but as soon as the doorbell rings and it’s someone you want to impress, you can straighten up in a New York minute!” In other words, it’s truly our choice if we are sweet or sour. It’s all about what you believe: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” OR “I don’t give a rip!”
Healthy Benefits
Giving people your smile and pleasant words = benefitting their health! It does more than we realize: “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” (Proverbs 15:20) AND, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24).
Isn’t that the truth? People who are pleasant, smiling and sweet are refreshing and life giving. And the critical, harsh and sour ones can make you want to hide away in your closet and eat chocolate! Ha! Isn’t it awesome that we can give others a healthy boost?
Speak It
I received a letter from a precious girl who was a student in my dance class years ago. Something she said really struck me: “Thank you for telling me that I was beautiful. No one had ever told me that before.” Wow. I was simply speaking what I saw in her, never realizing it even mattered!
The more I’ve worked with people, the more I’ve realized that so many of them are never blessed with loving, encouraging words. But the great thing is, we can be the one God uses to speak life, truth and love into kids…and adults.
I’m not talking about flattery, I’m talking about seeing people through the eyes of Christ.
Through The Eyes Of Christ
All of a sudden the surly checker at Wal-Mart will look like someone who needs a kind word or even a hug! The difficult family member who drives you crazy doesn’t need your critique today. The kid who is ostracized at school is valuable and needs to know it! This world is starving for kindness…let’s nourish people with the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. (Galatians 5:22).
If we pray for Jesus’ perspective, He’ll reveal it to us and we can bless people, more than we will ever realize! <3
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