The Daily CHEW™
Moving God’s love from head to heart for Christian professionals
A junior person names something real about your fellow executive. You have two seconds to respond — and both instincts are usually wrong.
The first instinct: validate. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” That feels like connection. It is triangulation. You have now joined a coalition against someone who is not in the room.
The second instinct: dismiss. “I’m sure there’s more to it.” That feels like loyalty. It is avoidance. You have shut down a person who may have been telling you something important.
Ephesians 4:29 does not give you a third option to use. It names the standard: words that build up, fit the occasion, and give grace to the hearer. That standard takes two seconds to violate and a lifetime to embody.
C.H.E.W. with Me
C — Clarity — Words are meant to build up
Paul’s instruction is specific: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29 ESV)
Three criteria. Good for building up — the test is whether the word serves the person being built. Fits the occasion — timing and context determine which truth is needed. Gives grace to those who hear — not just the person you are talking to. The word passes through the room.
Proverbs 11:13 sharpens the loyalty dimension: a gossip betrays confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. The question in that two-second window is not only what you say about your peer. It is what kind of person you are becoming with each word.
H — Hear
Today’s verse to hear:
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
(Ephesians 4:29 ESV)
This is not a verse to police your speech with. It is a Father telling you what kind of mouth Christ has already given you. Stay with what He says: good for building up — fits the occasion — gives grace to those who hear. Grace is available for the person not in the room, through you.
Christ speaks grace to the person not in the room. That is the claim. He does not speak corrupting talk. He does not triangulate. He does not dismiss the real thing in order to protect the comfortable thing. When He opens His mouth, those who hear receive something that builds.
You are in Christ. He has not left you to figure out the two-second response on your own. He has given you His Spirit, who produces the fruit of a person who speaks grace in impossible moments.
Worth Sharing
“Christ speaks grace to the person not in the room.”
— The Daily CHEW™
E — Exchange — Ask what they need. Don’t join a coalition.
The executive who does not know what he is doing with his words in that two-second window will default to whichever instinct got reinforced in his last organization. He will not choose badly — he will just react.
The executive who has heard what the text declares can choose. He can receive what the junior person is offering without joining a coalition. He can ask a question instead of validating. He can redirect without dismissing.
Sit with this today: Because Christ speaks grace through me — what does the person in front of me actually need right now?
When I really believed God’s love meant my words were meant to give grace, not protect alliances, I stopped defaulting to either instinct. I started asking what the person telling me actually needed.
W — Walk — One redirect before close of business
Think of a conversation in the last week where you reacted before you chose. Today — by end of business — go back to that person if possible and finish the sentence you defaulted past: What I should have asked you is…
One question. No coalition. No dismissal. Just the grace-shaped response that fits the occasion.
One conversation. One redirect. Before close of business today. Then close the page.
With you on the journey,
Ryan
CHEW on this today
If your next word about a peer must pass grace to the room, what does it need to say?
This content was developed with the assistance of AI tools. All materials are prayerfully guided, reviewed, and refined to reflect our biblical convictions, voice, and commitment to Christ-centered truth. AI supports clarity and efficiency — not authority or spiritual guidance.
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