As Christians we know that we are to be careful about what we say. The dangers of using our words poorly are frequently mentioned throughout scripture, especially the book of Proverbs. James addresses the topic thoroughly in chapter three of his epistle.
We are told that the power of life and death rest in the tongue (18:21). That if we desire to love life and see good days we are to keep our tongues from evil (1 Peter 3:9). That a word fitly spoken is a beautiful thing (Prov. 25:11). That the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart, be that good or evil (Luke 6:45).
The last one is the one I would like to focus on – the WHY behind what flows from the mouth. This verse reminds us that our mouths are not operating in a vacuum, pulling words from the air. The good or evil that come from them have their roots deep in our hearts.
David prayed in Psalm 15, “Oh Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.”
I believe David was onto something huge here. We often focus on watching what we say, when we should be spending more energy on “speaking truth in our hearts”. How often do we pretend that everything is okay on the outside, while speaking untruths, bitterness, frustrations, even evils in our hearts. Then we wonder why our mouths follow suit.
My prayer is that the gospel would penetrate deep into the thoughts of our hearts. That the truth spoken in our hearts would bear the beautiful fruit of gospel words in our mouths.
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