We need to pay attention to our words because our words are windows into our hearts. Our words expose our deepest thoughts – especially those words spoken under stress. Jesus told his disciples, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Mt.15:18-19). He also declared, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Lk.6:45).
In our unguarded moments, our words give us away. The words we speak, when we feel threatened or angry, expose thoughts and beliefs deep in our hearts. How many of us have spoken something hurtful, sinful, or unbelieving only to say later, “I don’t know where that came from, that’s not who I am?” I have certainly said that at times but, the truth is, the words came from part of who I am. To be sure, we are flesh and spirit, the new man and the old man, the spiritual man and the natural man. To be sure, the flesh wars against the spirit (see Romans 7), but our goal is to bring everything within us into alignment with the Father’s ways and the Father’s will.
Our words reveal places of misalignment in our hearts. Our words are clear indicators of areas that need the work of the Spirit and our cooperative efforts. Remember, unattended misalignment gives the devil entry into our thought life. Our words are a road map to the places in our spiritual walls that need repair. Pay attention to your words and don’t dismiss those that are misaligned as meaningless. Our words are symptomatic. They reveal spiritual health or spiritual weakness. A wise person will be encouraged by the health that he or she discovers and will take action on the areas of spiritual infirmity that are indicated.
Anything we speak that is contrary to or misaligned with God’s word, values, or priorities gives the enemy a place to slip into our lives and create havoc. The principal is illustrated in Paul’s letter to Ephesus where he counsels, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph.4:26-27). Anger is a work of the flesh characterized in Galatians 5:20 as hatred, discord, rage, and dissensions. Paul allows that we may become angry and not sin. Anger is a very human emotion and even God is said to become angry at times (his being a righteous anger). However, when we hold on to our anger, nurture it, or refuse to forgive, then we are moving into the arena of sin.
The original word translated as foothold is topos. It means a place, a territory, or even a sanctuary. It was used of sacred places, including the high places where false gods and demons were worshipped. When we nurture our anger we give Satan a place, a sanctuary, or some territory in our lives. In the same way, words spoken frequently that are aligned with Satan rather than with the Father, can give Satan a foothold as well. Eventually, a foothold will become a stronghold and Satan will wield tremendous influence in some part of our lives because he will strongly influence our thinking in that area. Our words will reveal that influence but it may take others to point out how misaligned we are in that slice of our life because the Satan is a master deceiver.
A wise person, then, will monitor his speech and ask others to alert him to speech that is misaligned with God’s truth. Our words are symptoms of something in our heart that may need to be touched by the grace and healing power of God or that may need the balm of repentance. They are great indicators of spiritual and emotional health or a lack of health and, like blood pressure, need to be checked on a regular basis. Remember, the tongue has the power of life or death. Choose life.
