For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks. -Â Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45
Oops! The minute the words were out of my mouth I regretted saying them. I thought, “I can’t believe I said that!” Next thought, “I wish I could take that back.â€Â But once words are spoken , they’re out there. No chance of taking them back.
Words are powerful. In olden days, when a king spoke a decree, there was no rescinding it even if it meant terrible consequences. In Proverbs 18 we read, “The tongue has the power of life and death.â€
One of the things I continue to struggle with is my speech. Many times I have resolved to think before I speak. “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin.†(Psalms 39) “The tongue is a small part of the body, but …consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.†(James 3)
I have asked the Lord to “Set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.â€(Psalm 141) That was written by none other than King David. Bottom line, though, here’s the deal. My tongue only says what is already fixed in my heart. So the problem doesn’t really lie in my mouth, but in my heart.
I have ‘decisioned and purposed’ to clean-up and purify my heart. That won’t happen overnite. It will be an ongoing process. That’s OK; we’re all a work in progress. It will also require divine help. Like the beautiful song says, “Change my heart, oh God..â€
– – – written by Sally I. Kennedy
