Slow To Speak

“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”
‭‭James‬ ‭3:3-6‬ ‭MSG‬‬

What comes out of our mouths can have two results, positive or negative. I vividly remember the day that I decided to be intentional about what came out of my mouth. It not only changed my mindset but changed the way people around me acted.

I started to notice that I was able to handle situations easier and my responses were more well received. In Verse 6, it says that our speech can ruin the world!  That’s a heavy burden to live with. Is my speech empowering people or bringing them down? Am I a pessimist or an optimist? I pray that we are intentional about what comes out of our mouths.  Not only foul language, but gossip is also deadly.

Prayer:
Jesus, I pray that our words build people up and not tear them down. I pray that we are the people that speak life over every situation. That we honor our leaders and bosses at all times and that we honor parents. Jesus, I pray today that we can be slow to speak and fast to listen. I declare that better days are yet to come and that you will have your way with our thoughts and words. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.