What is on Your Lips?

My mother always wore lipstick. She was from the era where you put your best foot forward when you stepped out of the house, and you rarely stepped out without being dressed accordingly and having “fixed your face.” Even in retirement, when she relaxed her standards just a bit, one thing that never changed was that she always put on lipstick, at the very least, when going anywhere, even to a drive-through window! Her lipstick of choice was Revlon, and I think the color was “Classic Red.”

I love this memory of my mother, but there was something much more important that she taught me about what was on her lips. She daily showed me by her words the meaning of grace, which she seemed to pour out on everyone. She taught me by example to speak with gentleness and compassion, and to always give people the benefit of the doubt. She would see a friend in a store and might stand and talk for an hour. She was genuinely interested in and concerned for people and the things that were going on in their lives.

When we study the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, we see that “she opens her mouth in wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.” So I ask again with that in mind – What is on your lips? What are you speaking into others? Is kindness there? Is compassion? Is wisdom? Is love? Are we speaking life giving words into our children, our husbands, to those we have influence with each day? Is the Law of Kindness there, or do we adhere to some other “Law” of our own making?

Scripture, especially Proverbs, is full of references which speak to the importance of our words. Proverbs 18:4 tells us, “A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.” Proverbs 15:23 says, “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply – and how good is a timely word.” In Proverbs 25:11 we learn, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Our health can even be affected by the words we speak and those that are spoken to us, as Proverbs 16:24 tells us, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

I need to be reminded of these truths every day, and strive to put on kindness with that Revlon Classic Red!