Say What?

There are six things the Lord hates,

seven that are detestable to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

a false witness who pours out lies

and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

 

Proverbs 6: 16-19 (NIV)

 

The verses above make up what some refer to as God’s “hate list”.  Of the seven things listed there, three are directly related to words that are spoken in a deceitful or malicious manner.   There is an abundance of verses in the book of Proverbs related to the words that we speak.  Some of those words build others up while some of them tear others down.

What do the words we say tell us about ourselves?  Jesus had some pretty sobering words to say in Matthew 12: 35-37:

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (NIV

To be sure, Jesus didn’t mean every word… did he?  I don’t know about you but I definitely have some work to do!

Our challenge for today:  Let’s take a self-assessment by taking a mental inventory of the words we say.  At the end of the day, it will be interesting to see how our “building up” words compare to our “tearing down” words.

 

Reading for today: Proverbs 6