But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” -Matthew 12:36-37 (NKJV)
The bible has plenty to say about the spoken word, doesn’t it? That’s because of the power words have when they leave your lips. They take on a power and life of their own…God invented them to do just that.
We have a serious responsibility to steward our mouths and what comes out of them.
A cute graphic I saw circulated on Facebook said to T.H.I.N.K. before speaking, and to ask yourself, is what I’m about to say:
- True?
- Helpful?
- Inspiring?
- Necessary?
- Kind?
It’s amazing how little restraint we have in hindsight. Some will answer no to the above questions, with selfish justifications. But the truth is, no one else made us utter unhelpful or hurtful words. We chose to let them loose. We can even unleash harm upon ourselves with our own words.
It is use of our free will to hurt or heal with our words, and evidence of how we wish to use God’s gift in our walk. Let us, if we must, pause before uttering something Jesus would not. We might be amazed at how much more positive situations suddenly become in our everyday lives.
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