READ: PROVERBS 16:24; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-7; EPHESIANS 4:29-32

Have you ever tasted unsweetened chocolate? By itself, chocolate is very bitter! When a dessert recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa powder or baking chocolate, it will also call for a sweetener, usually sugar, to take away some of the bitterness.

Like chocolate, things we say can be bitter too. Have you ever been kind and polite while talking to someone face-to-face, and maybe even done nice things for them, but then used bitter words behind their back? It’s easy to do this to people at school, work, church, and even to friends. But that’s not how Jesus calls His people to live. Our words should match our actions. We can’t show love to people through one but not the other.

Think about it this way: If you tried to make a chocolate cake without any sweetener, it might look good at first, but the taste would be all wrong. Chocolate needs to be sweetened to taste good, and our actions and words need to be sweetened too—sweetened with love, compassion, and genuine kindness—to show others the love of Jesus. As 1 Corinthians 13 says, all the good works in the world mean nothing if they’re not done out of love.

It’s important to remember nobody’s perfect. We aren’t, and neither are the people we’re tempted to speak bitter words about. Yet Jesus shows love to all of us through both His words and His actions. The Bible recounts many of the things Jesus said during His ministry on earth—and, in fact, all of Scripture speaks of God’s love for us. And God has also shown His love to us in countless ways, from Genesis all the way through Revelation—and in our own lives. In His ultimate expression of love, Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we could be saved. Then He was raised from the dead, defeating sin and bitterness forever.

It’s only because Jesus has lavished His love upon us that we can show His love to others (1 John 3:1; 4:19). Since we’ve been forgiven, bitterness has no place in the way we treat each other. It’s not okay to be patient and helpful to someone’s face but then talk about them behind their back. Instead, we’re called to show love through both what we do and what we say. How sweet it is when we use our words to build others up and benefit those who hear us. • A. W. Smith

• Have you ever been uplifted by sweet words that reminded you of Jesus’s love? Consider taking a moment to thank God for this, and maybe thank the person who said those words too!

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up…that it may benefit those who listen…Get rid of all bitterness. Ephesians 4:29-31 (NIV)