In case you don't know me very well, I am a talker. I talk to people I know, people I don't know, animals, myself and God. I may or may not have talked to a stop sign before...you get my drift. My husband dreads going to Wal-Mart with me because he knows I will stop numerous times to talk with people because I love people!
But I have learned over the years, my talking can get me into a world of trouble if I'm not careful with my words. When I was younger and less wise, I would blab anything but now that I'm more intentionally walking closer with Jesus, I'm more cautious with the words I speak. There's a couple scriptures that come to mind before I speak and they are:
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences...Proverbs 18:21
and
So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say...Numbers 14:28.
Let me share a little story with you that changed the way I talk. It was my 35th or 36th birthday and my youngest child had made me a birthday card (I LOVE homemade cards). Anyway, on the front of the card she had drawn a birthday cake with candles and written "Happy Birthday Momma". Inside the card, she had traced her hand and written "This little hand loves you and says happy birthday". It was colorful, beautiful and made my heart swell. I hugged and kissed her and was so proud of her artwork and thoughtfulness. And then "the other shoe fell". She said, "you didn't look on the back" in her sweet little voice. So I quickly turn the card over to see her final artwork and bam, there it was:
"YOU'RE GETTING OLD" written in all caps. And if that wasn't enough to take the wind out of my sails, the picture was the "nail in the coffin". She had drawn a little stick figure kind of bent over with a walking cane in one hand and the other hand positioned on the stick figures back. The caption above the stick figure read "Oh my back"!
You see, for at least a good month, my lower back had been hurting and she was constantly hearing me say, "Oh my back" or "Man my back is killing me". That little birthday card was a wake up call to me. I mean who wants to read "you're getting old" from your 6 year old and before you even hit 40!!!
So that day, God grabbed my attention about what I had been repeating over and over for a month. It was at that moment that I began making it a point NOT to say "oh my back" or "my back is killing me" anymore. It might have been hurting but if it was, I didn't speak it...instead, I began saying, "you know what, I think my back is getting better" when someone would ask and before long, my pain was fading and eventually gone.
Now you may be thinking that's a bunch of fooey and that's fine but I have learned over the years that my life is a result of what I SPEAK because that's what Proverbs 18:21 says. The power of life (good) and death (bad) is in our tongue (what we speak) and if you have a not so good life right now, you may want to pay closer attention about what YOU are SAYING about yourself, your family, your friends and your circumstances. And if you hang around me for any length of time, you just may hear me say "don't speak that crap" if I hear something negative coming from your sweet little mouth because Numbers 14:28 says "The Lord will give us the very things He HEARS us speak!"
So with that said, I hope God's favor will follow you throughout your day and you will be more mindful of what blessing you speak over not only your own life, but all those you encounter today!
Until next time..
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