Put away perversity from your mouth, and keep devious lips far from you. Proverbs 4:24, TLV
Edit Your Tongue? One of the first lessons I learned from Proverbs — and I’m still learning — is self-editing my tongue. It’s bad enough I react to a situation with inappropriate or even sinful thoughts, it’s a whole other thing to let those words escape through my mouth and into the atmosphere.
It’s important to remember that what we think — what comes from our heart — can defile us as much as any sinful act we commit. It’s serious enough that we need to keep our hearts in a state of vigilance and repentance.
But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. These are the things that make the man unholy… Matthew 15:18-20a, TLV
Damage Control
Nevertheless, as long as those words remain in my heart and don’t go anywhere else, then my Heavenly Father and I can deal with them privately. The damage control is limited to me.
Once those toxic thoughts become words for others to hear,
more damage is caused. It means the damage control expands to include others — more work for us to clean up.
When those words pass through our lips and others are harmed, they now have to deal with rejection or anger or confusion or whatever in their hearts. Which means we’ve actually given them and GOD more work. Yikes!
If we could see our foul or hurtful words as weapons — see the damage they cause — maybe we would be more careful how we use them. And that would be a good thing.
Think More About It
How do you guard your lips? Is it difficult to edit your thoughts before they escape your lips?
Until tomorrow, may those inappropriate and sinful thoughts never see the light of day, my friends.
Hear my words, ADONAI [LORD],
consider my groaning.
Listen to the sound of my cry for help,
my King and my God, for I pray to you. Psalm 5:2-3, TLV
Hear our hearts concerning Israel, Father, in Yeshua’s name. Amen. God bless you, my friends.
