Watch Your Mouth
"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak" – Matthew 12:36
When I was a kid, if you talked back or said something you shouldn’t, you’d get your mouth washed out with soap. It sounds crazy now, but back then, it was how adults taught us something important. Your words matter.
I still remember a time I got caught lying to my teacher. It didn’t just end there. I got licks at school. Then licks at home. And after that, my dad sat me down and told me the story of the boy who cried wolf. You probably know it. A boy lies for fun, over and over, until the one time he tells the truth, nobody listens, and it costs the whole village.
That stuck with me. Because deep down, even as a kid, I understood something: your words are building something. A reputation. Trust. Or maybe destruction.
In Matthew 5, Jesus shifts His focus from actions to intentions. He starts pressing on the way we speak to and about others. And just like with anger, lust, and reconciliation, He gets right to the root. Because the truth is, what you say comes from who you are.
Jesus doesn’t treat words like they’re cheap. He says every careless word will be accounted for. Why? Because our mouths are connected to our hearts. If your speech is full of sarcasm, lies, slander, or profanity, that’s not a surface issue. That’s a soul issue.
It’s easy to downplay words in a world where everyone is tweeting, posting, and venting all day. But Scripture reminds us, words have the power to give life or to crush. To bless or to curse. To build up or to tear down.
So here’s the challenge today: watch your mouth. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Speak with honesty. Speak with kindness. And when you mess up, own it. Because words matter more than you think.
When I was a kid, if you talked back or said something you shouldn’t, you’d get your mouth washed out with soap. It sounds crazy now, but back then, it was how adults taught us something important. Your words matter.
I still remember a time I got caught lying to my teacher. It didn’t just end there. I got licks at school. Then licks at home. And after that, my dad sat me down and told me the story of the boy who cried wolf. You probably know it. A boy lies for fun, over and over, until the one time he tells the truth, nobody listens, and it costs the whole village.
That stuck with me. Because deep down, even as a kid, I understood something: your words are building something. A reputation. Trust. Or maybe destruction.
In Matthew 5, Jesus shifts His focus from actions to intentions. He starts pressing on the way we speak to and about others. And just like with anger, lust, and reconciliation, He gets right to the root. Because the truth is, what you say comes from who you are.
Jesus doesn’t treat words like they’re cheap. He says every careless word will be accounted for. Why? Because our mouths are connected to our hearts. If your speech is full of sarcasm, lies, slander, or profanity, that’s not a surface issue. That’s a soul issue.
It’s easy to downplay words in a world where everyone is tweeting, posting, and venting all day. But Scripture reminds us, words have the power to give life or to crush. To bless or to curse. To build up or to tear down.
So here’s the challenge today: watch your mouth. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Speak with honesty. Speak with kindness. And when you mess up, own it. Because words matter more than you think.
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