"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
Matthew 12:34-37
This is interesting. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Whatever is spilling over inside us, that is going to affect our perceptions, our judgments, and dictate what we say. And wow... we will give account of every idle word. That's huge.
The hopeful part for me is in the last verse. Because it doesn't just say that by our words we will be condemned, but it also says that by our words we will be justified. And I don't think that is a self-righteous type of justified, but a saved from condemnation type of justified. :)
I'm sure that God doesn't expect us to instantly be perfect in what we say. Like other things, it takes time and effort. So, how do we get there? These verses give us a lot of clues. We need to become better on the inside. We can't just pretend to be good... look good, say the right things... because it won't work. Our words are going to show the world who we are, and reveal our perspective.
We need to change our hearts... fill them with good things. For instance, reading good books, and listening to good music, and praying, and reading our scriptures, and thinking about all of this good stuff, and actually applying it to our lives. We need to learn to love, and to embrace God's perspective about the goodness of other people.
We need to work on becoming good on a much deeper level, so that when we speak what comes out, even when we aren't thinking about it very much, is good. And if we have a lot of idle words that we need to repent of in our pasts, let's apologize to others for the ones where that makes sense, and for the others, let's apologize to God, and start filling our lives with good words rather than bad.
Today, let's work to not just look good, but actually BE good, all the way down to our cores, and make sure that is reflected in how we express ourselves. It will take time and practice, but once we get there, we'll never have to worry about accidentally saying the wrong things. What comes out will be all good... a part of who we have become. We'll then be justified by those good words, and we won't need to be afraid of judgment day. :)
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
Matthew 12:34-37
This is interesting. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Whatever is spilling over inside us, that is going to affect our perceptions, our judgments, and dictate what we say. And wow... we will give account of every idle word. That's huge.
I'm sure that God doesn't expect us to instantly be perfect in what we say. Like other things, it takes time and effort. So, how do we get there? These verses give us a lot of clues. We need to become better on the inside. We can't just pretend to be good... look good, say the right things... because it won't work. Our words are going to show the world who we are, and reveal our perspective.
We need to change our hearts... fill them with good things. For instance, reading good books, and listening to good music, and praying, and reading our scriptures, and thinking about all of this good stuff, and actually applying it to our lives. We need to learn to love, and to embrace God's perspective about the goodness of other people.
We need to work on becoming good on a much deeper level, so that when we speak what comes out, even when we aren't thinking about it very much, is good. And if we have a lot of idle words that we need to repent of in our pasts, let's apologize to others for the ones where that makes sense, and for the others, let's apologize to God, and start filling our lives with good words rather than bad.
Today, let's work to not just look good, but actually BE good, all the way down to our cores, and make sure that is reflected in how we express ourselves. It will take time and practice, but once we get there, we'll never have to worry about accidentally saying the wrong things. What comes out will be all good... a part of who we have become. We'll then be justified by those good words, and we won't need to be afraid of judgment day. :)
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