Part 2: Be Careful Little Mouth | FUN Ways to Teach Kid's Good and Kind Communication

Be Careful Little Mouth

Let no 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

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Spiritually speaking, I would suggest the mouth was designed for two purposes: edifying others and praising God. What is interesting though is if we are uplifting others or extending grace to those who hear us then we are in one form praising God. What a thought! How many things have I said that had nothing to do with giving God praise or building up someone just this week or today? Have I said nothing, have I said much to the contrary?

Ephesians 4:29 tells us to let no corrupt talk come out of our mouths. I am sure we tell our children don’t say mean things, or be nice, or don’t be disrespectful. But the instruction of say and don’t say is not enough. We must clarify why. Hurtful words should not come out of our mouths because we want our words to please God. He is their redeemer, our redeemer, their rock, our rock, thus we must do as He commands if we are to stay in safety.

We are not only told to refrain from corrupting words but told to speak words specific to the occasion that would result in building each other up. What if instead of just saying, “be nice, and don’t say mean things” we teach our children to look at a situation and choose the words that would best encourage, heal or bring joy to the other person. Now they are not just randomly picking and choosing words so long as it sounds nice, but they are intentionally looking for the right words that would be specific for the needs of the other person.

Think on that. What if in every conversation the goal was to choose words that would uplift the other person. How much of God’s love would be made known to the people we encounter! As parents we are to teach our children to be intentionally about what comes out of their mouth. That means we must be mindful about the conditions of their hearts or minds. After all they will speak what is already in their hearts and minds.

Here are some tips on how to teach your child the FUNdamentals of kind communication:

Tip 1: Read books about kindness. Reading age appropriate books and talk about the moral of the story. Check out the Bible Time Little Book of Prayers for FUN books that will help you teach your children about kind communication.

Bible Time Little Book of Prayers - 4 Book Set

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Tip 2: Do fun object lessons. Showing a child with a visual example can help bring the lesson to life. There are many object lessons that utilize different methods of teaching kindness. One favorite of mine is the example with the tube of toothpaste object lesson. Once the toothpaste comes out (representing words coming out of our mouths) it can not go back in.

Tip 3: Have fun challenges. Challenge your child to say something specific that will uplift members of the family. Maybe start off with three times a day and increase the amount of times each week.

There are many Bible verses about kind and courteous communication. Talk these verses over with your children and discuss why it is so important to be careful with our words. Download the verses below.