Watch Your Mouth

James 3:10 “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to pass judgement but rather to help. We all have our downfalls and although this may not be mine, I would like to help someone understand their wrong and help them make it right.

Growing up I’m sure some elder of yours at some point has said “Watch your mouth”, “Don’t say that again”. In our younger years bad words were ‘shut up’ ‘stupid’ and ‘liar’ (at least for me) but as we grew up, the adults became a bit more lenient and words we couldn’t say (around them) became curse words: The words that were bleeped out on television and USED to be edited out of music on the radio. This day and age not only have parents become lenient but so have the media regulations and bad words are more likely to be heard with out a problem. As Christians though, we find in the Bible that although everyone else may be saying these words, it is unfitting for us to follow suit. As I said earlier, I know many people struggle with this for many years and there are several reasons for that. Cursing is a bad habit and is super hard to defeat (kind of like my bad habit of biting my nails). Some people curse because they grew up around adults that cursed around them or even when speaking to them. To tell the truth, it’s almost impossible to expect a child not to curse when you curse at them regularly while communicating with them and it is unfair to expect anything different. On the other hand some of us curse because of  what we listen to. Believe it or not, the music that we listen to has a big effect on what we say and think. You may think that Waka Flocka’s lyrics don’t affect your thoughts but they do. Although you may not carry out the action that crosses your mind, it isn’t a good thing for that thought to cross your mind.

Quick Story: I used to be a huge fan of Lil Wayne and knew (and still do know) lyrics to many of his songs. But when I realized how easily it was for me to slip and say a curse word in casual conversation I made a decision not to listen to his music as much. It isn’t easy to just stop listening to your favorite artist cold turkey but when you have a bigger goal in mind such as wanting to please God more, things like this will become a priority and help you to accomplish both goals.

The scripture above makes it clearer than clear. It is not favorable for us to praise God and a few minutes, hours or days later curse like it’s nobody’s business. Many of our flaws are hard to change but the reality is we have to hold ourselves accountable for our actions and begin to be proactive in changing our ways if we really want God to be pleased with our lives. Matthew 12:36-37 say “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.” If we want to make in into heaven, we have got to control our mouths. It’s hard, but remember one of our favorite verses “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” He will give you power over your tongue and guide your thoughts. All you have to do is ask Him.

I encourage you in your spare time to read James 3 (Its really short ; ) ) But it will definitely put this into perspective for you and I pray that you are able to see the importance and that your words will be positive from that point forward.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things” Philippians 4:4

Your words are largely what you think. Positive thoughts will birth positive speech.