CARELESS SPEECH

Prov. 15:28 “The heart of the righteous weighs its answer, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.”

In anticipation of this blog, I have read and reread my ‘assigned’ passages many times, praying and studying, asking the Lord what He would want me to say.  I even wondered if I should back out this time, but then I saw exactly what the Lord was teaching me and what I should share.  

I realized just how careful I was being to write what God would want me to say for this blog, but how often do I take the same care with the words I say on a daily basis?  Do I resemble the “righteous [heart that] weighs its answer” or does my mouth gush evil thoughts?  Do I “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5) and “not let any unwholesome talk come out of [my mouth], but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs” (Eph. 4:29), or do I speak criticism, gossip, slander or other sinful words?  

I have been convicted about my careless speech in the past few weeks through other verses and God used this verse and this assignment to drive His point home yet again.  I know this is a heart issue, because “out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).  But praise God that He has made me a new creation, given me a clean heart and is always willing and completely able to help me “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:10).