One way we can bless, encourage and build other people so that their needs are met is through our speech. Paul said, ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.’ (Eph 4:29)

We need to learn to think before we speak:

Prov 12:18 says, ‘The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.’ James warns us about the power of the tongue: ‘With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.’ (James 3:9-12) Words are powerful and there needs to be consistency also in our speech so that we encourage and build people up, instead of running them down through ridicule, ribald humour and scorn

Children learn from what they hear, so if we want our children and grandchildren to speak well and to bless others instead of bullying people, they need to hear positive, encouraging words from us. When I worked as a teacher, we had this poem up in the staff room to remind us of the power of our example to others:

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live. (Dorothy Law Nolte)

Speaking well is the first step in meeting the needs of other people.

This evening we looked at one of the most encouraging verses in the whole Bible: ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:19) Here, Paul promises not only that God will meet all our needs but that this is entirely possible because of the riches of His glory. Our God is both willing and able to meet needs!

Needs so often define our everyday lives: physical needs (the need for food and water, shelter, clothes and so on), emotional needs (for significance, security and self-worth) and spiritual needs (the need to belong, to feel loved, to know we are accepted and forgiven by God.) But we often confuse and conflate needs with wants and can end up feeling disgruntled instead of contented, rather like the demanding toddler whose meltdowns over trivial thing make life difficult!

God does not promise to meet all our wants, but He is our provider and protector. Paul had learned even through imprisonment to be content no matter what the circumstances, because he was convinced God was working for good in it all. (Rom 8:28) Imprisonment is leading to others knowing boldness in witness and in people becoming Christians (Phil 1:12-14, 19) and therefore, he was content and secure in God’s provision.

Paul was grateful for all the help the Philippians had given him, and urges us to be one of the means God uses to meet people’s needs, rather like the boy whose lunch fed five thousand. After all, God loves a generous giver (2 Cor 9:7-8) and all we have is from God anyway. (1 Chron 29:14) As we seek to be generous and to honour God through our tithes and offerings, He promises to bless us (see Malachi 3:8-12). As we find God faithful and trustworthy, we can bless others and be the human means God uses to meet their needs… and so the circle of giving and receiving goes on and on. Jesus said, ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38) Try it and see.

God’s advice to David in 1 Samuel 30 was to pursue the Amalekites, overtake them and recover all that had been lost, which is what happened: ‘David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. ¹⁹ Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.’ (1 Sam 30:18-19) This is a picture for us of all that Christ has done for us on the cross.

Before we knew Christ, we were estranged from God, ‘dead in your transgressions and sin.’ (Eph 2:1) We were ‘by nature deserving of wrath.’ (Eph 2:3) The intimacy Adam and Eve knew in the Garden of Eden had been forfeited by their disobedience and the future was bleak. But in Christ we are now, as a result of God’s grace and love, reconciled to God and counted as His children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. (2 Cor 5:20-21, Romans 8:14-16) All that was stolen from us by the devil’s schemes and our disobedience has been returned to us. We now have a glorious future and can live our lives on earth to please God and to fulfil His plans for our lives.