Defiled by my own mouth

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. Matthew 15:18

 

Words – we often think little of them. They issue forth from our lips in an endless stream of superfluous babblings. Lightness and triviality are the order of the day. Caught up in the incessant flow of things better left unsaid, we find ourselves defiled by our own mouth.

How careless we are with our words, when Christ has told us “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36

If we lived in the awareness of this one verse, we would speak more carefully and probably less frequently. Definitely less frequently.

I have been making an effort to be more aware of the words I speak. I can choose to speak words that bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus or I can choose to speak words that are empty, or even worse, hurtful. Most of the problems occur when I bypass the step of choosing my words and let them come out of my mouth before being evaluated.

The book of Proverbs has much to say about our words. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 10:19:

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking; but he who restrains his lips is wise.”

I leave you with this final thought – Shhhhhhh

3 thoughts on “Defiled by my own mouth

  1. writeathome February 23, 2009 / 10:18 pm

    Hello,

    I came upon your blog through Timbob’s site. I agree with what you share here. It is important to take heed concerning the words that come out of our mouths. Once they are spoken, we can’t take them back, so we do need to be careful. Maybe that’s why we are urged in James 1:19 to be “slow to speak.”

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Sincerely in Christ,

    Carol

  2. timbob February 24, 2009 / 2:34 pm

    Hi Irene. I just added your site to the lengthy blogroll. You cover a very important topic here. An ill-timed word can result in damage that lasts for years. May we all be mindful that every word will be given account for.

    Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts here. I’ll have to read some earlier posts when time permits. have a blessed day in Jesus.

    timbob

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