Silver Boxes

   When my kids were little, I was a summer camp director at our church camp. For many summers, I would pack myself and kids up and we'd move into our cabin at camp on Sunday evening to prepare for campers to arrive on Monday morning. We'd spend the next few days with over 100 children who had just finished First through Third Grade. We'd go back home late Wednesday night, spend a couple days doing laundry and repacking before leaving again on Sunday. It seems like my kids were almost raised at church camp. That's not a bad thing. In some ways, I'm glad those days are done. In other ways, I'd love to have those days back. The friendships that were created, the memories that were made.
 
   Perhaps one of my biggest memories took place one summer during our annual counselor orientation week. Of course, we always told the staff how to handle homesick campers, campers who didn't want to participate, how to have cabin devotions, etc. But this one summer, we also told them how to talk to campers and each other. I often think about this particular "training" and how it applies to life.

   Florence Littauer is a pastor's wife and Christian author/speaker. One Sunday, she was visiting a church. The pastor was so happy to have a professional Christian speaker in his church so asked her at the last minute if she would share a brief message. She quickly came up with a message to give them and this message is what we shared with our staff.

  Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (She used King James) I like the Message version so much better. It says, "Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift."

   Florence went on to say that the words we speak to others should be like "silver boxes with bows on top" meaning that we should speak kindly to others. While Scripture addresses swearing, Florence's message really focused more on speaking kindly and treating people compassionately. This was likewise the message we shared with our staff.

   If you were to give someone a gift, or better yet if you were to receive a gift, would you like that gift to be in a tattered cardboard box that looks like it's been sitting out in the rain or run over by a car? Or would you prefer to have a pretty little box, neatly wrapped with a festive bow on the top? If someone gave me a gift in a ratty old cardboard box, that would tell me a lot about what they think of me and how valuable I am to them. However, if they gave me a gift that they took time to wrap carefully, I would know that they find                                                           value in me.

   Friends, our words should be the same. If you speak rudely to everyone you meet, what message do you think that gives them? I'm not even just talking about being nasty when you talk to them. If you treat them like they're inferior to you or like they do everything wrong, that's not a gift to them. Making people feel like the way God made them isn't good enough isn't a gift to them. Every time you belittle someone or make them feel inferior or unappreciated, you're tossing a broken-down cardboard box that's been sitting out in the rain at them.

   On the flip side, if you let people know you appreciate them just the way God made them and say encouraging things to them, if you speak kindly and genuinely with them, if you value what they have to say and don't act like you have all the answers, it's like giving them a little gift, beautifully wrapped with a little bow on top.

    I've had both kinds of "gifts" handed to me. I've had people treat me like I didn't know anything, like I had no opinion, like I wasn't worthwhile. I've had those people who have acted like they knew everything about life and I was totally clueless. Every day I was around them made me feel like ratty cardboard boxed were being heaped up in front of me. But I've also had people who show they appreciate me, speak kindly and compassionately, value what I have to say, take my ideas into consideration and show they find value in me. Those gifts are so much more valuable.

   Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not good enough because you're not like them. Don't ever let anyone make you into what they want you to be. If you're being the way God made you, embrace it! Anyone who can't accept that obviously thinks God made you wrong and they can do better. Don't surround yourself with those people. Surround yourself with people who let you be the way God made you and appreciate you just the way you are. Give a silver box to everyone you meet!