A Builder Or a Wrecker

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell.

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.”

“I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
“O Lord let my life and my labors be
That which will build for eternity!”   - Author Unknown

Walking through life it is easy to find those whose mission seems to be finding fault with what others are doing, have done or are considering.  They are the people who walk into a room and look immediately at what is wrong.  They spray their negative thoughts upon all around, seemingly without regard to the pain or destruction they may be causing.  It takes no skill to be a critic, merely an opinion.  And they are legion.

We find these people in all areas of our lives.  Sadly, parents are sometimes bad about pointing out the wrong and not the right.  Ephesians warns dads, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4  Employers and managers often do the same, creating insecurity in place of creativity in an office.  If those aren’t bad enough, preachers have been known to resort to tearing down instead of building up with words of condemnation and not commendation.

It takes a special person to see what is right and good and speak up about it.  We take much for granted with those we love and spend our lives with.  Ephesians states that we can be “edifiers” in our world...those who build up and not tear down if we merely watch our words.

Scripture to Claim:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21