Posted by David Ogden

“The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,
But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,
But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.”

Proverbs 10:31-32 (NASB)

Think about the words you spoke yesterday? How many of them were wise ? How many were foolish ? How many were edifying and pure ? How many were coarse or harmful ? God’s word tells us that the mouths of the righteous will “flow with wisdom” and “bring forth what is acceptable”, while the mouth of the wicked will “bring forth what is perverted”. Why is there a difference in what they say? Jesus tells us that the things which come out of our mouths actually flow from our hearts (Matthew 15:18). This is why the righteous will speak words of wisdom and why the wicked will speak words that are perverted. Our speech tells people who we really are. And while we all will slip from time to time, those who have been transformed by God will naturally want to say things that are acceptable to Him. So may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to Him (Ps. 19:14).

Questions for application…

What does our speech reveal about us?

How should the speech of believers be different from that of non-believers?


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