Have you ever said something that immediately after saying it you wished you had not said it at all? Of course you have. Likely it was said to your mother-in-law or your boss. It could have been your teacher, or your ex. It might have been your best friend (or now ex-best friend). Sometimes you just wonder, “Where in the world did that come from? Why did I say that out loud?”
I wonder:
- Do we actually think before we speak?
- Do we process the words that flow from our mouths or do we let them just fall out?
- What should we use our words for?
The average man makes about 10,000 grunts a day while the average woman weaves about 25,000 words into an intelligent tapestry. Jesus says that language that you use expresses the contents of your heart.
Matthew 12:34 “You brood of Vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”
Psalm 12 has caused me to stop and think about my words. I love the way that David reminds us,
“The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever.” vs. 6-7
Pure words. Pure, unadulterated words. Those should be the words that come from my mouth. That is the type of language that we need to be working on. Except it isn’t about the language. It’s about the heart. Let’s get our hearts pure and the language will follow.
In contrast to the beautiful statement in vs. 6-7 David prays a very aggressive prayer towards those whose lips are evil.
“They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongues that speaks great things;”
Wow! That’s aggressive. We were talking about this during one of our student meetings here at FBC recently and I asked one of our very artistically talented students to draw a rendition of this psalm. Check this out.
Proverbs 18:6-8 says,
“A fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows. A fools mouth is his ruin, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of the whisperers are like dainty morsels that go down to the innermost parts of the body.”
So what do you think? If your words are the thermometer of your heart, what is the climate like lately?
~Peter
I also really enjoyed this video interview of Maya Angelou…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n9Pq1LNLwM]
2 Comments
Out of the desires of our hearts our mouth speaks. I loved Maya’s quote, “Vulgarity is vulgarity, no matter what color the mouth who says it.”
As for the temperature of my heart. It burns with an unyeilding passion for truth. I struggle hourly with balancing truth and grace. I seek God’s guideance and I trust that He gives me discernment.
I think of the song, “You dont have to yell” by Chris Rice.
Rick, that is one of my favorite lines too. “No matter what mouth it comes out of.” I love it. Keep pressing into the truth in love.