Words

Words

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James 3:9-12, NIV

If you have a telephone in your home, you probably have many telemarketers bombarding you each week. Sometimes I receive as many as four or five sales calls in one day! Some of the callers can be quite persistent, so my response requires determination mixed with graciousness.

I have noticed that the callers are frequently caught by surprise if I answer on the first ring. This past week I picked up one call after the first ring and answered, “Hello!” I heard silence, and then a man used the name of God in a disgusted way. I repeated, “Hello?” a second time. Then, a bit startled, the man turned on his professional phone voice, said, “Well, hello, Mrs. Elwell,” and launched into his pitch.

No matter how fine a salesman he was, he lost me back at the beginning of the call because of the way he spoke God’s name. At a point when he stopped to take a breath, I kindly explained that I had no need for his product, and in addition I had been offended by the way he had spoken God’s name into the telephone at the outset of the call. In a sugary voice he said, “God bless you, ma’am!” and hung up. The tone at the end of the call sure didn’t match the words at the beginning.

Our children are listening to us each day to see how consistent we are. Since the words that come out of our mouths reveal what’s in our hearts, what are our words saying about our hearts?

Father,

“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3, NIV). Amen.