Do the Words You Speak Matter?
I have been thinking a lot lately about the words that I am speaking. Are they words that encourage others or hurt them? Am I complaining about the bad things, or am I grateful for the good things?
Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
I have made many mistakes with my words. I have either chosen the wrong ones or made the mistake by not keeping my mouth shut. Everyone goes through this everyday with family, friends, co-workers, or bosses. When we say something that we know deep down isn't right, we are not only hurting the people around us, but we are also hurting our relationship with God.
God doesn't want us to speak death. If you take some time to read the first chapter in Genesis, you would notice how many "And God said...and it was so," verses there are. God spoke life to create the earth.
I looked up some verses about the tongue. I found that there are many more than I thought. Here are just a few:
"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit."
-Psalm 34:13
"There is one whose rash words are like swords thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
-Proverbs 12:18
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."
-Proverbs 21:23
"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
"Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit."
-1 Peter 3:10
"From the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
-James 3:10
So what do we do when we feel like words that we shouldn't be saying are about to come from our mouths? First of all, we need to ask God for help. We cannot do it by ourselves.
Psalm 141:3 says, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" When discouraging, complaining, or hurtful words are about to come to our mouths, we need to stop and ask ourselves, "Is this what Jesus would say? Will I hurt this person or myself?"
We need to ask the Lord to keep guard over our mouths and tell us what and what not to say. The words we speak do matter!
Are you speaking words of life or death?
Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
I have made many mistakes with my words. I have either chosen the wrong ones or made the mistake by not keeping my mouth shut. Everyone goes through this everyday with family, friends, co-workers, or bosses. When we say something that we know deep down isn't right, we are not only hurting the people around us, but we are also hurting our relationship with God.
God doesn't want us to speak death. If you take some time to read the first chapter in Genesis, you would notice how many "And God said...and it was so," verses there are. God spoke life to create the earth.
I looked up some verses about the tongue. I found that there are many more than I thought. Here are just a few:
"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit."
-Psalm 34:13
"There is one whose rash words are like swords thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
-Proverbs 12:18
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."
-Proverbs 21:23
"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
"Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit."
-1 Peter 3:10
"From the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
-James 3:10
So what do we do when we feel like words that we shouldn't be saying are about to come from our mouths? First of all, we need to ask God for help. We cannot do it by ourselves.
Psalm 141:3 says, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" When discouraging, complaining, or hurtful words are about to come to our mouths, we need to stop and ask ourselves, "Is this what Jesus would say? Will I hurt this person or myself?"
We need to ask the Lord to keep guard over our mouths and tell us what and what not to say. The words we speak do matter!
Are you speaking words of life or death?
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