May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. ~Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
Have you ever considered the “words of your mouth”? Ever wondered what God thinks about what you are saying to your family, friends and even yourself? Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking you probably shouldn’t have said some of the things you did? Scripture teaches our words are supposed to be uplifting and a benefit to those who listen. In Colossians 4:6 we read “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (NIV) When we think before we speak, we have an opportunity to make sure that what we are about to say is building up and not tearing down the listener. The Psalmist goes one step further by asking God to help him with his conversation. He says in Psalm 141:3 “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (NIV) Every word we speak starts with a thought. The Lord wants us to have the ability to manage our thoughts. He wants us to be able to manage our mouth to a point where we choose our words wisely. He wants to tell us what to discard or what to give voice to as it goes through our mind. Don't you wish you could discard more? Even the ability to formulate our words better would be a benefit to our conversations. Many times, we do not take into account the listener when we speak. We speak from our own limited perspective which tends to lack grace. Seasoned words are uplifting words. They inspire and encourage the listener. How often are your conversations seasoned with grace?
Becoming a person of “few words” has its benefits too. First and most importantly we become better listeners. If we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit before we speak, we might just save ourselves a lot of trouble. In James 3 God likens the tongue to a bit in a horse’s mouth saying with it we can turn the whole animal. He also compares the tongue to a rudder on a ship stating that even in very strong winds the rudder can steer a large vessel. Last but not least we are told in James 3:6 “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster.” (TLB) Wow! God says the things we say has the potential of poisoning our body! What a breakthrough for modern medicine! In the book of James, the Lord tells us we praise God with our mouths, and we curse those the Lord has put in our lives. He says this is wrong and should not be done. Gossip, backbiting and slander will always devour the promoter, not their target. Our words are what separate us from all the creatures of the earth. We are made in God’s image as creative beings it is by our mouths, we create many of the situations we encounter. God created the heavens and the earth by His words, and we can make heaven on earth if we learn to watch what we say. Take a moment today and ask God to set a guard over your lips and then do your part by thinking about what you are thinking about!
Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth that is what defiles them.” ~Matthew 15:10-11 (NIV)
Do you struggle with being a good listener?
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