The gift of gab…
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3
There is an old childhood song that most of us can recite…
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
This song cannot be further from the truth.
God’s Word, being our ultimate Truth, actually teaches us completely opposite to those very lyrics.
In fact, in Genesis, God’s Word tells us that God “spoke” the world into creation.
By His Words…Creation began
“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light..” Genesis 1:3
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
Many scriptures in His Word state the very same thing.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. Psalm 33:6
Sadly, for many of us, words spoken over us have left deep scars and wounds.
Words have the power to destroy.
Words spoken over us can be like a tape player playing over and over in our minds. Whether we want those words to play or even believe those words, they often get stuck in a loop in our thinking.
The words could have been spoken, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago…yet, we still hear them line for line.
The impact doesn’t lessen.
Those words still have the power to hurt us.
Scripture after scripture warns us of the damage and the power of words.
Not just other people’s words, but our words as well.
The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking. Proverbs 15:28
The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off. Proverbs 10:31
Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut. Proverbs 10:19
I could list many more, but you get the drift here.
Wow! It makes me never want to open my mouth again! Words are powerful!
Words have the power to build up…or destroy.
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21
I love being a woman. I love everything about it.
However, I do think that as a woman, my mouth can be the ultimate weapon.
Women have the tendency to talk more. Chatter more.
We must be extra vigilant with the gift of gab.
We must take every word, every thought, every utterance to the Light of God’s Word before we speak it.
I know we won’t always succeed, but we must learn the discipline of controlling our tongue.
I have been convicted countless times by the overuse of my tongue.
It is never a fun lesson to learn.
Don’t we want to be the godly and wise woman who builds others up? Who speaks goodness and faithfulness and kindness?
I want to be remembered for my words….in the best possible way.
One way I work on my mouth is to think these things through before speaking…
-do these words honor God?
-do these words make someone else look bad?
-would i say these words to the person i am speaking about?
-would i want these words said about me?
-if Jesus came to earth this very second, would i be proud of what i said? or hide out in horror. eek!
Listen, we won’t always be perfect. But, we can work on our words. We can ask God to help us and discipline our mouths.
One way of doing this, is reciting God’s Word over and over.
His Words will actually help to change our thoughts and in turn our words.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
God has given us the gift of speech. Let’s honor Him with how we use it.
Let’s build up our husbands, our children, our neighbors, our friends…anyone we come into contact with.
starting today,
jill
