Think Before You Speak
“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.” Matthew 12:35
The indwelling Holy Spirit is a good treasure, a very good treasure. We might call Him our heavenly Banker who is our fiduciary over our spiritual bank account. A fiduciary is one who holds something in trust for another. He guarantees that the good treasure of righteousness which is placed in our heart when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior will be kept safe and available to us that we may draw from it. This treasure is locked up in our hearts, is ours to make good use of, and cannot be taken from us (Ephesians 1:13).
Psalm 119:11 gives us the formula for maintaining integrity and keeping our heart pure: “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” We’ve all heard the old saying, “You are what you eat:, and that is true of the physical makeup of one’s body. If we look at this from a spiritual standpoint, it is also true. If we consume God’s word with a robust appetite just as we enjoy eating food, then we will be spiritually what we consume of the Bread of Life. If we eat nutritious food, it helps us to be healthy in our bodies. If we consume God’s word, it promotes spiritual health in our souls.
Just how significant are the words that we speak? According to Jesus, our words are the determiner of the intents and contents of our hearts, a window into our souls, so to speak. Words have meaning. James said that “out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing…” (James 3:10). We may speak good things or bad things thinking no one is really paying attention, but God hears and takes note of every word we speak. Psalm 139:4 assures us that “there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.” What is an “idle” word? It is usually one that is vain, empty, and useless. Have you ever had to apologize for something you said to someone? I know that I have, and I am sure that all people have had to apologize for thoughtless or hurtful words at one time or another. It would be quite an extraordinary human who could go through life and never say the wrong thing.
Our words usually originate in our thought life which originates in our heart. Sometimes we say “Oh, I spoke without thinking” meaning our words jumped directly from the contents of our hearts to our mouths without our mind taking time to consider how they sound or how they will be received. Politicians are really good at that. They always excuse it by saying, “I misspoke”, but that is usually only to try and get out of the trouble that their words brought upon them. The thing is, though, particularly for politicians, what they originally said was usually what they meant. Folks who speak without thinking or who are careless with their statements should take the advice of the older generation who always told us that if we can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all. However, keeping our mouths shut doesn’t let us off the hook for sinful, judgmental attitudes can still remain in our hearts even though we don’t express them verbally. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 concerning adultery: just lustfully thinking about it made one guilty. No wonder we need a Savior.
Jesus went on to say that “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” By His statement, it is very obvious that the words we use are a measure of our relationship with the Lord. The only words that can justify us are “Father, forgive me for I have sinned.” These were the words that the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24 said to his father who welcomed him back with open arms. What if this wayward son had come home and demanded that his father give him some more money to continue his wretched lifestyle and blow it just like he did previously? I don’t think the father would have been so forgiving. He might have sent the son away never to see him again.
As another old saying goes: “You had better make your words sweet for you might just have to eat them.” Thank God for the ability to repent of hurtful and harmful words. It is much better to think first and then speak. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).