Choosing Our Words Wisely

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Have you ever stopped to consider how many words we share with others in just one day? 
  • What we say.
  • What we write.
  • What we type.
  • What we swipe.

What if we had our own personal ‘word count’ button (like in MS Word) that we could click on? Yes, we'd have a literal word count, but it wouldn't include the words that often speak the loudest - the words we communicate with our hands, our tone of voice and our facial expressions. Whether our words are put into print, are spoken or are merely an innuendo understood clearly by the listener, we each have moments when we wish we had a button to erase each misspoken word or rambling sentence.

Putting together a short, yet meaningful message, for a birthday card, a voicemail or a text can be very challenging. Too minimal and we run the risk of being cryptic and confusing. Too many words can turn into rambling, and we lose focus of our purpose. Choosing our words wisely takes extra thought, but it is always a worthwhile investment.

This week, I ran across a great quote -

“My words, sometimes even my lack of words, have caused me much pain over the years. It hasn’t always been that I have gossiped or lied. Sometimes I just talk too much. Or I repeat the words of others, which I should not have. Other times I have tried to say the right thing, but it came out the wrong way. Or I have said the right thing but in the presence of the wrong people or at the wrong time. There was just no shortage to the ways I could misuse my mouth.” - Karen Ehman from her book, ‘Keep It Shut: What to say, How to say it and When to say nothing at all.’

Words! They can be heaven sent and bring healing to ourselves and others.

Words! They can spew out poison that is impossible to wash away. The cost is great!

James 3:6b warns us that “The tongue corrupts the whole body [and] sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Wow! Our words can be “set on fire by hell.” Well, that explains a lot about what happens in both the believer's and the unbeliever’s attempts to communicate clearly and kindly. We have an enemy that loves to cause confusion, heartache and misery. We must be on guard and stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

How can we choose our words wisely in the days ahead?
  • We need to fill up on God’s Word. – Matthew 12:34b "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
  • We need to surround ourselves with positive witnesses. - "Walk with the wise and become wise." Proverbs 13:20b
  • We need to understand the impact of our words. - "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
  • We need to ask God to guard our mouths. – “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3  
  • We need to seek God’s ways. – “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” Proverbs 16:2
"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."  Matthew 12:35

What is your heart full of today?


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~ For more encouragement take a free sneak peek of Karen Ehman’s encouraging words about taming the tongue. Check out the video preview of ‘Keep it Shut: What to say, How to say it and When to say nothing at all’ (Lesson 1) Just go to www.christianbook.com/biblestudysamples and scroll down until you see the image of the book. Click on it and then scroll down to the video. I found this to be a great tool to help me decide on the topic for our next Women’s Bible Study. And, the bonus – Being able to listen to this lesson was an unexpected and refreshing moment for my soul.

~ Some of the other Bible Study titles who have full video samples include:

‘Anxious for Nothing’ by Max Lucado
‘Unglued’ by Lysa TerKeurst
‘What Makes You Happy’ by Andy Stanley

~ For more encouragement on partnering with your husband - your pastor - and your Savior, check out yokemates.blogspot.com or send me a note via the contact form. I’d love to hear from you!


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