Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is pure. Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4 state that “humanity cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

If we are image bearers, then what do our words say about us? Do we hear ourselves, and remember every word that we say, and judge it by the impact it makes on others? Do our words feed souls, or break them?

In Matthew 12, Jesus says, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Oh Lord, Create in me a clean heart!

In the parable of the unfaithful servant, the servant buried the money the master entrusted to him in the ground, and returned it to him exactly as it was given. The master asked him, “Why?” and the servant said, “I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you do not sow, and I was afraid to lose your money, so I buried it.”

The master said, “Wicked servant! If you knew me to be like that, then you would have put the money in the bank and returned it with interest.”

First, I would like to stress that the Master is not like that! This servant didn’t know God at all. God is not one of those who take advantage of people in desperate situations to gobble up their money. He doesn’t take the profit off the labor of others. Those people exist, but they do not reflect the image of God, but of the devil.

But Secondly, this servant said one thing of God, but then treated the property of God as if those things were not true of God. If he really believed the master expected more than his due, he would have been afraid to bring him only what he was given. He would have known, he needed more, and done more.

He betrayed God, both through the slander of his words, and through the lack of integrity in the way he lived. His actions were inconsistent with his words.

Oh Lord, Renew a steadfast spirit within me!

I say all this, because I realize like Isaiah, “Woe to me! for I am a person of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.”

In the United States, we value our freedom of speech. We speak a lot, and weigh in on every subject. Social media feeds us pieces of stories, flotsam of rumor, and it is easy to snap to a quick judgment, to form uninformed opinions.  Paul warned Timothy of a time when people will be always learning but unable to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Oh Lord, You desire truth in the innermost being, in quiet reflection make wisdom known to me.

“Be quick to listen, slow to speak.” James 1:19