"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:37
Over the course of the week, I fasted. I asked God to work on my mouth, because I found that I'd begun complaining and speaking negative/ discouraging words far too often. These words were not directed only at others, but at myself, too. For example, my teenaged daughter and I were conversing in the car yesterday after I'd worked in my classroom most of the day, and I realized that most of what I stated wasn't encouraging. It was as if my whole life was one huge NEGATIVE ball. The Holy Spirit, however, intervened and pricked my heart, convicting me yesterday by telling me that I needed to stop it. It's as simple as that...we make the choice to stay miserable by what we allow our minds and mouths to think and say.
What does your mouth say about you? Mine speaks volumes...and not always what I want it to say. It tells me that I can be very ungrateful, discouraging, and negative. It says that I must not trust God like I thought I did, or else I wouldn't be worrying and focusing on all that can go wrong rather than all the things that are going right.
I don't want to impart a habit of complaining and negativity to my daughters for them to pass on to their families. I want to stop it now and choose to be justified by excellent thoughts rather than condemned by wicked thoughts. Our words have much power--to create happiness, laughter, and love or to hurt, stab, and punch. I don't know about you, but I want my Heavenly Father to be glorified by what I speak. Today, let's make the choice to direct our minds to reflect on positivity so that the words we say will be powerfully uplifting rather than murderous.