One of the more disturbing societal trends of late is the degradation of acceptable speech. A person could scroll through any social media news feed and see a barrage of language which would have shocked and disgusted most in years past, but today is so common that many think nothing of it. However, though the world’s standard of acceptable speech may change, God’s standard does not. The psalmist best captured the essence of God’s expectation for our speech when he said, “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1), and again, “And my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long” (Ps. 35:28). While the world wallows in a mire of profanity and vulgarity, God’s people must be careful to speak in a way that glorifies Him.
Glorifying God in our speech begins with the heart. In fact we must be constantly mindful that our words say a lot about the condition of our heart. Jesus said, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35-36). He also said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). Someone has said eyes are the window to the soul. But really, it is our words. Our words tell the world the thoughts of our heart. Are we really seeking to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29)? Do we sincerely desire to put the kingdom first (Matt. 6:33)? Do we love as we should (Rom. 12:9)? Is glorifying God our primary goal (Ps. 86:12)? Our words tell the story.
…to be continued