"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37 (KJV)
You've heard the phrase, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me..." Well, I don't care who you are, we've all been hurt by words. Words are more powerful than any of us could ever know, if they weren't then why is this verse in the Bible? If words aren't powerful, how can we be both justified and condemned by words? We accept Jesus Christ with our mouths, and others deny Him with their mouths. We praise God with our mouths, while others curse at God with their mouths. We bless people with our mouths, and we hurt people with our mouths. Words are powerful, and as followers of Christ we all need to understand that. Once we understand that, we can use our words more wisely.
There are good ways and bad ways to use your words. We need to be positive, not negative... We need to lift people up, not tear them down, etc. One of the worse examples of a Christian is one who shoots their mouth off, especially if they do it before they know everything they need to know. What I'm talking about are those who jump to conclusions, make assumptions, and or gossip. I've been guilty of all of the above, still am at times... And those times are the times I feel most foolish afterwards. Words are so powerful, it's like everyone is armed with a weapon that can do a lot of damage. With that kind of power there is also a responsibility to use it right. People have committed suicide over things that people have said to them. It's almost like murder, you oppress the spirit of someone so bad that they just can't take it anymore and it chokes the life out of them. We don't know how bad someone is hurting, which is why we should use our words wisely.
We're going to have to give account for every idle word that comes out of our mouth in the day of judgment. Will you be ready to account for yours? I'm not so sure about mine, but I trust that God will forgive me.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins as we forgive all those who've sinned against us. Help us to use our words wisely, and in a way that's pleasing to you. In Jesus name. A-men!
