“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
The times are sadly gone when we can take someone at their word. Many a deal was struck by what was known as a gentleman’s agreement. Promises that were made over a business handshake, and vows of friendship and marriage pledged with carefully chosen words were once taken seriously. Not so much anymore. These days, our TV journalists interview celebrities, athletes, and other public figures frequently having to ‘bleep’ out phrases because of the expletives spoken by these individuals who really should know better. Too often they rationalize that the viewer will understand and accept their language as “an attempt to make a point.” In print media, one political candidate creates the headline that she “lies about lying, then tells the rest of us ‘words matter’.” Not long after, a front page article highlighting the opposition reads: “Words matter, unless he’s the one speaking them.”
It used to be if two people were having a verbal disagreement, one might have been told to stay out of it. We would have been informed that they were just “having words.” Words have taken on a whole new life today. A person uses one of the many venues of social media to fire off a few choice words about someone they might not know all that well, and the comments start flying for all the world to see. Perspective employers have been known to check out how applicants interact with others on their social media page. We forget that what might seem like a personal arena for self-expression can influence how others might evaluate us both personally and professionally. When we never hear back about that job opening, we wonder what may have happened. We fail to remember that we may never get a second chance to make a first impression. The late author and syndicated columnist Earl Wilson once advised, “If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, don’t say it.” The problem is that we do.
Jesus put it this way: “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you” (Matthew 12:33-37). Words have the potential of building someone up, or they can cause irreparable harm. Condemning words can affect an individual in unimaginable ways, while those which console and comfort might transition a life from despair to hope. The choosing of our words can make a powerful difference, one way or the other. Nathaniel Hawthorne once stated, “Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.”
As followers of Christ, we must listen with our heart and realize that there are times when our mere presence speaks more than words themselves. A friend once told me that before going into a stressful situation that may have concluded with a serious consequence, someone passed on this scripture: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:14). She followed this advice. Instead of the event being life-defeating for her, it ended up being life-affirming. The Word of God offers direction in all that we do and provides a light for our way forward. “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). Allowing His Word to guide us as to how and when we should speak will enable us to voice words that matter. The Apostle Paul advised that we should, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6). It would serve us well to give thoughtful as well as prayerful consideration before we speak, so that the words which flow out of our mouths are acceptable to the Lord. Remember, He is always listening . . . and so is the world to which we bear fruit.
REFLECTION: Have you ever created an issue because you were slow to hear and quick to speak? In what ways do you need to weigh the words you express? How can you help others do the same in their journey?
A NEW LOOKUP DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., OCTOBER 8, 2016. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.