I have a confession to make. This has been a very difficult season and there have been unguarded moments with the words of my mouth. In the privacy of my own thoughts and home, I have chosen to speak words of death rather than words of life. Chosen. And you know what? It has only made this difficult time worse and has brought even more heaviness to my heart.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Acts 3:19
I confessed the sin of my mouth to the Lord and to a friend. What ensued was me choosing to bless with my words in the privacy of my own home. The reckless words still had power behind them even though nobody else heard them. You know who heard them? The Lord. You know who immediately nudged my heart? The Lord. You know who loved me enough to put me in my place? The Lord. (And my friend!) When I confessed, refreshing came. Along with that refreshing was the strength to replace those words of death with words of life.
Our words, whether spoken in private or in public, can be damaging or life giving. We have the power of choice. Life giving words are not always pleasant in the moment. A word of correction can be life giving when spoken in love. But we must remember that not one of us is exempt from wounding others with our words. The Bible actually says that “no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8)
So what do we do?
“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3
We ask the Lord to help us. We seek forgiveness when we’ve wounded. We choose better next time. And when we’ve been wounded, we ask the Lord for His eyes for the one with the reckless words. We forgive. We choose not to judge, remembering there have been times we’ve sinned with our words too.
Some Scriptures to ponder:
- “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” James 3:2
- “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:9-10
- “Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say. ” Ecclesiastes 10:20
- “The tongue has the power of life and death.” Proverbs 18:21
- “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18
“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him and the evil man brings evil things out the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35
When we store good things in our heart – like compassion, forgiveness, and God’s truth – these flow out of our mouth. When we store bad things in our heart – like hate, judgement, gossip, and offense – these flow out of our mouth. Will you choose with me to guard your heart and mouth more closely? Let’s heed some advice many of us grew up hearing: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
