Have you ever tried to catch the words coming out of your mouth? I have, on many occasions. The words flew out of my mouth before my brain engaged enough to sift through them. Isn’t it maddening that our words need to be sifted? Think of flour and how you sift it so that it is thinner and more manageable. This is definitely what we have to do with our words. My words may have one meaning for me and another to the one who hears them. It’s important that we consider people who hear how our words not are spoken, just the words themselves. Our words can become bigger issues than they should because we don’t sift them or consider the one who will hear them. What happens to our words?

• Our words are misinterpreted. This happens often because we all have our own perceptions and interpretations we use as we listen. Our mind is more on “me” than on the one speaking.
• Our words are edgy. If we are honest, we all have a tendency to allow our feelings of anger, frustration, or disappointment to take over our tone as we speak. The person listening may not have a clue as to what our problem really is.
• Our words are flippant. There’s absolutely no thought for the other person in this. We just throw out words of advice. There’s absolutely no thought of what’s going on in the recipient’s life. We’ve got the answer!
• Our words are condescending. Our pride takes over and we put ourself in a higher position than the one to whom we’re speaking. In our minds we’re probably using words like clueless, stupid, or idiot.

These situations influence our words because we forget God’s word. As a follower of Christ, we have been given the ability to choose to be like our God. We have his word to dig into in order to learn more about him and how we can reflect him well to others.

• “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8 God’s Word never changes. It stands forever. His word is where we find our spiritual nourishment. His word fills us up with what we need for life and godliness. What if our minds were more on God and the person we’re speaking to rather than on ourselves? There would be less misinterpretation if God was our motivation.
• “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.” Matthew 15:18  The words we speak reveal what’s in our heart. These words are evidence of what we really think. Jesus is warning here how we will be known by our words. Our heart will be revealed to all who hear our words. When we are not careful and thoughtful of the listener, we reveal our selfish heart. We need to take time and evaluate our hearts before we speak.
• “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” Proverbs 18:2 Our tendency is to formulate our opinion rather than listen to what is being said. We think we know better or can fix the situation. However, to respond in expressing our opinion without trying to understand other’s concerns is foolish. We need to take pleasure in understanding them and the situations they are traversing.
• “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29  Our job is to speak with the other person’s best interest in mind. This takes a conscious effort on our part. How much good will result in someone’s life when we do? It means we have to remember others are more important than us. It also means we have to remember our words are not the most important things in the equation. The person we are speaking to is more important. We need to think of what is best for others not how important our words are.

The Scriptures have so much to say about our words, our tongues, our thoughts, and our relationships. We must take time to work on ourselves in order to bring our words in line with the Scriptures. We will work on this until we reach heaven’s gates. There is none who is perfect, here on earth, but we have a Savior who walked this earth perfectly for us. Every word he spoke was for God’s glory and our good. It is because of his sacrifice on the cross for us that we are able to change. Let’s work on our words for God’s glory, other’s good, and our good too.