Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it. 1 Peter 3:10-11 NIV
Girls,
have you ever felt so out of place that the only thing you new to do was to 'open your mouth' as a means to fit in.
No matter the words,
No matter the conversation you joined in,
No matter the gossip,
No matter the ...fill in the blank.
I have!
I have walked away from countless conversations ...
even present speaking...saying to myself,
"Why did I say that?" ...
"I can't believe I said that." ....
"What was I thinking?"...
or Yes,
Even this whopper.......
"That must have really hurt her feelings."
If you have asked yourself these questions,
you can be sure the enemy is preying on your conversations as to try and prevent them from being uplifting and fruitful.
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse.
A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds.
A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire.
A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that.
By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
James 3:3-6 MSG
Guess what?
There is a solution to leaving a conversation, a group, a class, a prayer group....you fill in the blank.....without disecting your conversations!
The enemy jumps on the chance to send you into an emotional whirlwind,
especially when that conversation had to do with the Lord,
He will attack your mouth in the middle of your sentence.
The direction the enemy wants you to go leads to conflict and chaos.
The other leads to peace and joy.
Turning and changing our words requires time, energy, self-disipline and commitment.
But most importantly it requires that we study to find what God has to say about how to use our mouths, and then rely on him to help us use them in the right way.
Accepting responsiblity to our words is one of the most rewarding discipline. I cannot blame others for the words that I say.
It is my prayer that as the Lord transforms my speech, my relationships will improve, and I will experience more and more joy with the conversations that I have with others.
And you to my dear friends.
Psalm 139:4 tells us .. "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord!" We must pray and ask God to give us the words to say! I pray Psalm 19:14 over myself before I open my mouth....
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. Amen."
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Well-spoken words bring satisfaction; well-done work has its own reward, peace-planning brings joy to the planner and a cheerful word picks us up! Proverbs 12:14,20,25 MSG
So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you're already doing this; just keep on doing it. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 MSG
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. James 3:2 KJV
Bottom line girls, you and I are a constant work in progress. Be prepared with your scripture cards! Keep the word in your hearts and be ready! ~M
endnotes: NIV, The Message, KJV, Naves Topical Bible
