“Keep Watch over the Door of My Lips”

Greg Gwin
01/15/17 - General

Our words have powerful potential for good and for evil — to help or to harm. Knowing this, we need to exercise great caution concerning the things we say.

Have you ever been hurt — seriously wounded — by the words of another? Has a brother or sister spoken something that seemed to cut like a knife? And then, when you responded, they replied: "Well, that's not what I meant." Or, "you took that in a way that was not intended."

Okay, we accept that explanation if sincerely offered, but we would warn to be ever more careful with your words. Even when not intended, words carelessly chosen can do much damage. And, who knows how often we might have said things that unknowingly hurt another and they suffered silently, never mentioning how painful our words were to them. Be careful!

Know that your words can cut like a sharp sword (Psalm 57:4). Make sure that what you say will build up and not tear down. ("Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29). By taking great precautions with our words, we will keep ourselves out of trouble. ("Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble." Proverbs 21:23).

Let us pray as the psalmist did, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3). Think!