The Importance of Words

Proverbs 10:11
"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life..."
Proverbs 10:21
"The lips of the righteous feed many..."
Proverbs 10:31
"The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom..."
Proverbs 10:32
"The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable..."

These are just four verses in one chapter about the importance of our words. When I read them today they all stuck out to me more than the others because this is something I have been thinking about the past couple of days. I don't know about you but sometimes I let my mouth run wild. In James 1:26 it says, "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." Wow! I think this is really important to think about! Seriously, we can be praising God with our mouths one minute and then gossiping about our brother the next. How can we utter blessings and curses out of the same mouth?! James 3:9-10. (James chapter 3 has a lot of wisdom about the tongue.) I know that I, for one, need to meditate about what it means to bridle my tongue! James 3:2 basically says that if you can control your mouth you can control your whole body. If we actually think about what were about to say we can examine the heart behind our words. If our hearts are thinking evil then we can find where it is stemming from and once again grasp the right perspective, the truth.

Psalm 15:1&2
"O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart."

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I want my words to give life to others, be sweet to the soul, and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)