Have you paid attention to your words recently? If not, you should. Before we even begin to look into the Word, lets look into your words. What can you recall saying to yourself or others about a situation in the past day or week? How many times did you say, “can’t”, “won’t”, “never” or “hopeless”? How many times did you murmur and complain? How many critical words flowed freely? How many names were called? How many times did you tell God your problems and circumstances instead of telling your problems and circumstances what the Word says? If you prayed, did you offer anything to God or just ask him for what you want? Before you read any further, grab a sheet of paper and write down what you have said. Seriously, stop right here and do it!
Are you uncomfortable yet? I was when the Holy Spirit began to ask me these things, and I truthfully acknowledged the things I had been saying. Such amazing freedom has come from this correction. What we say can affect others and ourselves for good or bad. Words are not without impact. The Word has a lot to say about it. As I began to examine this topic, I understood why I had lacked peace for so many years. Peace is inextricably bound to what we say, think and believe. First we are going to focus on what we say.
Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
There are three things this passage directs us to do before God does anything! 1. Stop worrying! 2. Talk to God and tell Him what you need. 3. Thank God for all He has done! Did you hear anything about crying, complaining, begging or telling Him what you can’t do or how bad you are? In our battle for health and weight loss, we have probably put lots of focus on what goes into our mouths, but what comes out of them is far more important – for this journey as well as all of life. What we say, think and believe about this journey, our ability and God’s ability, matters. What we say sets our course.
James 3:2-12, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.”
Matthew 15:11, “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
Mark 7:15, “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Both of those verses are quotes from Jesus. He explains the meaning in the following verses.
Matthew 15:16-18, “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.”
Mark 7:18-23, “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
I want to point out that Jesus puts emphasis on the fact that what is in our hearts comes out of our mouths. If we listen closely to our words, we discover what we truly believe. Grab your piece of paper that has your words on it. What do your words say about the condition of your heart? Spend some time here and allow the Holy Spirit to give you understanding in this area and bring conviction, where necessary, so you can change.
What comes out of our hearts, through our mouths defiles us. This is not a word we tend to use much in modern culture, so let’s dig into the meaning.
Defile –
:to make unclean or impure: such as
a:to corrupt the purity or perfection of: debase
b:to make physically unclean especially with something unpleasant or contaminating
c:to violate the sanctity of:desecrate
If we believe what the Word says about our words, it is illuminating and life changing. How have you been corrupting and desecrating yourself? Do you ever contaminate your own spirit and mind by what you say to yourself? What do your words say about you? How are they hindering you? How can you use them to help yourself and others?
Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe acceptable in your sight,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Proverbs 15:4, “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 16:24, “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”
Proverbs 18:20-21, (ESV) “From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Proverbs 10:11, “The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.”
Proverbs 10:31-32, “The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off.The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.
Luke 6:43-45,“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes.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. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
Proverbs 4:20-24, “My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
Ephesians 4:29, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”
We hear our own words, but are they an encouragement? Is your speech corrupt? How has it corrupted you?
Psalms 34:1, (KJV) “I will bless the Lordat all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
If His praise is continually in our mouths, there is not room for what is harmful to us. These Scriptures tie together what is in our hearts to what we say. They instruct on what should be in our hearts and what we should be saying – the Word. We are to think on it, speak it and get it into our hearts. If you dwell in the Word and let it penetrate your heart, you will speak differently about yourself and others, as well as your circumstances.
Engage and Apply
Pray these two Psalms over yourself daily and see what the Holy spirit points out. You will be surprised!
Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe acceptable in your sight,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!”
What do you need to say differently?
What words/phrases do you need to completely remove from your vocabulary?
What are you going to do this week to get more of the Word in you so that is what comes out?
Do you need to go back to Psalms 139:23-24 to re-check the condition of your heart?
Do the things you say sound like God’s words or the enemy’s? We need to make sure that we are speaking Truth.
Add, “If you say so!” to the end of the things you say to yourself and see how that feels. It’s eye opening!