Purity of the Tongue

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”   James 1:26-27 

Do you ever feel as though you have Foot-in-Mouth disease?

I do.

Sometimes the words hang like a cartoon bubble in the air—a cartoon bubble that I wish could be taken back.  But, the damage has already been done. Other times, the words shoot out of my mouth like a bazooka firing at close range—taking out the unwitting victim before they even know what’s happened to them. 

Sometimes our words are innocent and just poorly stated or perceived.  But, when they're not, God’s Word provides both the cause and the cure for Foot-in-Mouth disease.  The cause is an impure heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).  And, the cure is purification of our heart. 

It sounds simple, but how do we get a pure heart?  We gain a pure heart by living in accordance with God’s Word (Psalm 19:8).

That takes daily effort.  There's just no other way around it.  We must make pure speech a daily practice.

Proverbs 22:11 tells us, "Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend."

Won't you join me in putting forth the effort by spending time in God's Word and prayer every day that we might make a practice of speaking graciously?

May you have the best night you've ever had in your life.