Jesus, said, “every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for in the day of Judgment.” (Matthew 11:36 NASB). Paul said “let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth”.
An innocent word spoken maybe in fun to the speaker, can become a wound to the hearer. According to James the tongue is a very small part of the body but can be tamed by no one and can cause enormous damage. I know that you don’t have to be evil or have an ugly heart to say words that are not beneficial but are damaging. Peter said that he would not deny the Lord, yet later he would deny him with cursings, yet Jesus knew his heart and would allow him to have the keys to the kingdom.
It behooves each of us to try to make the words that we speak like “apples of gold in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11), that they are “words of grace as seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6) The only words that we should speak are words “good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
My prayer is that God will help me to always make the words of my mouth not only be acceptable to Him, but also to those who hear.
