Gracious words are pure. — Proverbs 15:26b

Grace is like the sun or the rain. It comes to us freely from heaven whether or not we deserve it, whether or not we ask for it, whether or not we respond to it. Grace is always pure because it comes without an agenda. The Holy One does not shed grace in our direction in order to get us to do or be something.

We don't need to try to decipher what heaven is trying to get out of us whenever grace suddenly shows up in our lives. There are no conditions to receiving it. It is simply a gift. In this, it is the purest thing we know.

When our words are gracious, they too become pure. So often our words are tinged with manipulation. We have something in our minds behind the words.

Some words expose the anger in our hearts. Some words seek a response of caring. Some words show our importance. Some words get us out of trouble. Some words expect something in return. Some words engender love and tenderness.

When we speak words of grace, we speak without anything hidden behind the words. They flow from our lips like water tumbling over rocks—clear, pure and beautiful. There is no motive behind them but a desire to honor and bless those to whom they are spoken. These gracious words, born in the silence of our soul, come straight from heaven and are always the sign that heaven has come near.

Gracious God, let my words be gracious and pure, like oil that anoints and heals the heart.