Guard Your Lips and Unlock Your Ears

Humans love to talk. We love to share our opinions, our feelings. We love to "give advice"...or commands. We love to debate, argue, ridicule, gossip and be sarcastic. I'm not inferring that we should never speak, but perhaps we should be more careful about the words that come out of our mouths. 

Spoken word has power. God created everything with spoken word (Genesis 1 and John 1:1-4) and through spoken word there has been destruction. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat it's fruit." And Proverbs 13:3 "He who guards his lips guards his own life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."

There is a reason why James 1:19 says we should be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." It's also not an accident that he out these three things in this exact order. How many times have we been quick to become angry, then speak out of our anger and not listen to a single thing the other person is trying to say? How quick are we to become offended because we don't want to take the time to hear what the other person is saying and instead assume we know what they are saying, cut them off and get mad? How many arguments could be avoided by simply listening?

Not only that, but speaking negatively about a situation or a person can have negative effects and you will have to give account for everything that come out of your mouth. "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37.

Maybe we shouldn't speak so flippantly about our circumstances or people around us or our frustrations. Is a quick word spoken out of anger or malice really worth the trouble we will find because of it?

I encourage you to examine yourself, get into the habit of thinking before you speak, and if it's "too late" repent and ask for forgiveness from God and the person you have wronged. And seek scripture on this topic. Pray and ask God to reveal the truth and severity of speaking carelessly. Because of the time I have taken to search out multiple scriptures and pray through all of this, God has softened my heart to be careful and think before I speak. I still have a long way to go, but it truly is freeing when I do have victory and bridle my tongue.