Biblical Guidelines to Our Words

(Speech - part 3)

Scripture gives us our word selection guides

Ephesians 4:29 - 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.

If your first thought is to wonder where the ‘corrupting talk’ threshold is you’re already in trouble. Our approach needs to be, "how can my speech glorify God," not "what can I get away with."  Building up is an improvement opportunity area for me.  Personally there are far too many times when I cross the line with and my comedic tendencies cause me to be guilty of tearing others down (for humor’s sake). The Holy Spirit often convicts me of being in direct contradiction to the Bibles command to only build others up. I pray that our consciences become more and more sensitive to our words and the words of those we choose to keep in our company.

Ephesians 5:4 - Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Again, if your first thought is to wonder where the ‘foolish talk’ and/or ‘crude joking’ threshold is you need to start by evaluating your heart. We all need to seek the Lord in prayer and ask Him to use The Spirit to raise our awareness of the disobedience that often flows from our foolish and filthy mouths. As believers we have so much to be thankful for and that gratitude should be apparent to anyone who happens to hear our conversations.

Posted in: speech