For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 1 Peter 3:10
One of my favorite cartoons/storybooks is Winnie the Pooh. I am not a fanatic who collects everything Pooh, but I really do enjoy it. In fact I have a favorite song with each of my children and House at Pooh Corner is the favorite of mine and our middle daughter.
Of all the characters in the 100 Acre Wood my favorite is Eeyore. He is just about my speed, he is not terribly social and he is really just a cutie. Not to mention he is negative just like I used to be : )
I have talked, in previous devotionals, about how negative I used to be, but it bears repeating. I guess that somehow I though being so down trodden made people feel sorry for me or something, I don’t know. My speech was shear noise pollution. I could suck the joy out of a room within minutes.
Once I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, however, that changed. Jesus did an incredible work in me. I went from being a person whose glass was not half full and not half empty, instead my glass was bone dry and He turned me into a person whose cup is overflowing (You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5).
There are 100+ verses in the scriptures that pertain to speech. A particular topic that is addressed that often, must be pretty important to God.
Our speech can be poison, a few of the things that the scripture warns us that our speech can do …
1. Defile us – “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person”. Matthew 15:18
2. Draw others to anger (which is sin) – “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
3. Destroy our neighbors – “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.” Proverbs 11;9
4. Be used as a weapon – “who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,” Psalm 64:3.
5. Lead people into ungodliness – “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.” 2 Timothy 2:16
The definition of noise pollution is “harmful or annoying levels of noise, as from airplanes, industry, etc….”Is your speech noise pollution? Is it harmful and annoying to those around you. When you walk in to a room full of happy people do you feel it get a lot more somber shortly after you arrive? Do you find yourself using your speech to draw attention to yourself or to the Lord? Do you battle gossip and using your speech to tear others down? Do you use your speech as a weapon, targeting others with your speech?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, the scripture warns us – “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” Matthew 12:36
That doesn’t mean just every harsh word or just every word of gossip or just every word of excess used to draw attention to ourselves, it means every careless, every harsh, gossipy, defiling, self glorifying word. We will give an account for every single word. No wonder God gave us eternity with Him, it may take that long for me to account for my words alone. Sad, but true.
I pray that today we would be more like King David, who said “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 and “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” Psalm 141:3. I pray that our speech would not glorify us but instead would glorify God, that it would build others up and not tear them down, that it would be filled with joy and bring peace and that (through sharing the gospel) it would bring life to those around us. Instead of our speech being destructive noise pollution, let it bring God glory and others life.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (http://forgiven-n-loved.com/Life-Preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. Let Jesus transform your speech and your life. Once you have prayed that prayer, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com and let me know. I’d love to be in prayer for you.
Luv Ya!
