Sister Sharron Sunday School 10/13/13

Sister Sharron Sunday School 10/13/13

When we enter a place we communicate without saying a word.

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

The saying is: If you run with dogs you will get fleas.  If you run with skunks you will stink.

Pro 27:17  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

This is the side of life we want to be on.  We have wonderful training in the preaching and the Sunday school.  God has brought me a long ways.  We must be teachable.  It takes work; we cannot be lazy and constantly improve and grow.

Psa 50:23  Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

“To him that orders his conversation right will I show the salvation of God.”  We have some work to do here and our salvation depends upon it.

Jas 3:5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

Jas 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

Jas 3:7  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

Jas 3:8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

We need to pray every morning: “God help me.”  It will take God to tame the tongue.

Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Jas 3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

This describes good manners.  We need to get life to where it is simple so that we are not overburdened always pushing and running.  How much better to live what I call a normal life!  The lifestyle of rushing and pushing and running becomes a habit and I want to get rid of that habit.

Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Pro 25:12  As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

In conversation there are two parts.  There is one speaking and they need to speak with grace and a heart of love.  The other part is the ear.  The ear needs to hear with grace and love. 

I heard a conversation once that I did not know was recorded of my husband and I talking and I discovered that I was not hearing things right.  I was hearing things defensively.

Our day and age is more casual.  Casual is ok, sloppy is not.  We don’t ever want to go to sloppy, even in cleaning our house.  We need to not have a sloppy home.  I have a lot to grow on but I want to overcome.  The scripture says: to him that overcomes… I don’t want to be lost.

When in the garden we want to have clothes on long enough and loose enough that we can dig in and do a good job.  When we are going to the garden, we need to have clothes for the garden, but we don’t want to wear those clothes to a funeral or a wedding or to church. 

When we go to the house of God we need to have respect to use the time the way that it is meant.  We want to be 100% in the house of God.  During the break between the Sunday school and the main service we need to take care of getting a drink and going to the restroom so we can be 100% in the service.  We need a time for everything and if we skip over that then we are not in the proper position.

Knowing too when to remove a hat is as important as wearing the right hat.  When you come into a home, an office, a restaurant, when the national anthem is played or the flag passes by a man is to remove his hat.

A good conversationalist understands a need for simplicity, directness, tact, and attentiveness to what other people have to say.  How we converse, not only what we say, is also vital. 

I have taken much of this from Emily Post’s book on etiquette.

We are to give comfort.  Guests should be comfortable in our home and in our conversation.  There are some things that should not be talked about.  Often people want to give their opinion and they go on and on.

Think before you speak.  Be thoughtful.  Listen.  It is only natural to think about what you are going to say.  But listen.  Empty the other thoughts from your mind and concentrate on what that person has to say.  Show that you are not only listening but that you understand in order to be a good listener.

Give personal space give about 18 inches between you and the one you are talking to.  If you are talking to someone that is tall or short adjust for that so that they are not uncomfortable.  An arm’s length is a good measure of personal space. 

The unspoken language that we use, rolling the eyes, curling the lip is speaking.  If you use your body language to put people down it is as if you spoke. 

We want to do to others as we want them to do to us.  In business we have buyers that have an attitude and we have sellers that have an attitude and they don’t always match. 

We want to be humble and overcome.  I had to work to overcome always wanting to know everything or wanting to let others think that we know everything. 

If you hear a rumor, then check it out.  I went home after hearing three different rumors.  Brother Gary had been teaching us to not just repeat what we hear but to check to see if it is true.  After hearing this message, I checked two of the rumors that I had heard.  They were absolutely false.  I didn’t even check the third one.  It will save you from a lot of mental trouble if you check to see if what you hear is true.

Have a pleasant expression but nothing insincere.  Don’t put on anything phony.  Direct eye contact is important to good manners.  Sitting up straight will help you with your appearance and with your confidence. 

We don’t know what people have been through even five minutes before we see them.  We need to do our best in every situation.  We are not going to know everything about that situation.  We all have things maybe physically or otherwise that we come up short on and we want to be treated well anyway.