You are beautiful my Sweet, Sweet Song

"Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."-Proverbs 16:24

As I continue to study one word in this verse each day (or every other day or so), I am continuously amazed by what the Father chooses to teach me. The word that I have been thinking about over the past couple of days is "Sweet". I am very familiar with this word, because it is a daily part of my vocabulary. I am constantly describing people and things as sweet, and I am constantly consuming sweets throughout the day. But I decided to look up the definition just to see all the variations of the word "Sweet". And the Father blew me away with the each definition:

1. Containing or derived from sugar.
2. Pleasing to the senses, agreeable.
3. Pleasing to the mind or feelings, gratifying.
4. Having a pleasing disposition, lovable.
5. Kind, gracious.
6. A dear or beloved person.

Now, the first definition was not so shocking. I am familiar with things that are sweet to taste, but I immediately thought of sugar as kisses. Growing up in the South it is common to hear someone say, "Give me some sugar." And it means to give me a kiss. I love the thought of gracious words being sweet like sugar or kisses to people that you come in contact with. And I LOVE the thought of the gracious words we say to people being an extension of Jesus' love being poured out through us. That means when we use gracious words with everyone we come in contact with, it is as if Jesus is giving each person a sweet kiss on the cheek and greeting them hello or goodbye. Its like that David Crowder song..."When Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way, He Loves Me."

Imagine if that is this picture that every person had of Jesus when we spoke to them.

The second and third definition are similar, but I loved how they fit with this verse. Gracious words are pleasing to the senses and the feelings. These words feel good. Being sweet to someone is gratifying to both you and the person receiving the gracious words.

The fourth and fifth definition are also similar. We should have a pleasing disposition towards others by being kind and gracious (and I loved the fact that gracious was in the definition for sweet, by the way). But we should also treat others as if THEY are lovable and kind and gracious. I am firm believer that people act the way you expect them to act. If you expect them to be mean when you start the conversation, then they will catch on to your expectations and fall into those expectations often, not always, but often.

And the last one is my absolute favorite. Someone sweet is a dear or beloved person. Louie Giglio explains in his one word bible study method that the word "be" is just another verb tense of the word I AM. I AM is God or the way the Father described himself to Moses, "I AM who I AM." So the word beloved can be literally interpreted to mean...I AM Loved or God loved. So if we treat every one as sweet, or a beloved person with our gracious words. We are saying that every person we come in contact with is BELOVED.

The Father also reminded me of this amazing Third Day song this morning on the radio with the lyrics: "You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song." Here is a link to a youtube video: You are So Good to Me by Third Day

- I am not