Five Minute Friday: A Better Use of Words
“You’d better get your homework done!”
“She’s better than you.”
“I’m going to be the better person here and let that comment slide…”
Better. It’s a strange word when you stare at it too long. And it can so easily have negative connotations – threats, negative comparisons, and so on. The Israelites used it in their grumbling:
“Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’” (Exodus 14:12)
“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3)
But better, as with so many words, can be used for praise, too. It’s not only negative. I love these verses from the Psalms that can fill our mind with worship and song:
“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you” (Psalm 63:3).
“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).
When you speak today, what words will you utter, and for what use?
(I am taking part in the #fiveminutefriday community. To write your own and link up with the other writers, you can do so here.)
Hello! 
As a mom of 3 I’ve used the word “better” in negative ways as you’ve written here … but so refreshing to hear how the psalmist used it. These days, I’d like to use the better as a personal reminder that the best is yet to come and the work God began in me will come to completion one day in His presence. (I’m also a fellow expat living in Central Europe.)
Lovely to meet you through the five-minute Friday community! Where are you living in Central Europe? I’ll go check out your website to find out more…
I know what you mean about using ‘better’ as the Psalmist – I write to myself….
YES! Exactly… It is one of the ways that our english language maybe challenges us a bit. These days, (thanks internet!) it is more negative than good. something to seek out rather than something to claim now.
Love where you took this, Amy.
I have to confess that before I learned anything about Christianity, (I came to it as an adult) I though ‘better is one day in your courts’ had something to do with basketball.
Oh! I love that!