3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3 NKJV)

Yesterday we looked at the volume of words we hear each day and what impact, positive or negative they can have on our lives. Today let us speak about our own words.

We need to view what comes out of our mouths as important. Not self-important, but important in the sense that we need to keep a watch over the door to our words. My father had a favored saying about people who ran their mouths without a limiter. I will try to not sully my writing with the exact phrase, but it had to do with a comparison between when one has the ensuing outcome of a stomach problem, but does so with words.

This is especially true when we are trying to live a good faith life but are willing to speak either ill or simply too much about others. We should be checking our words to see if they are edifying or simply passing along rumor. A strong faith life is one where we do not pass along rumor or make speculation about others. When we feel like we want to we should be saying a prayer for them.

Reflect on: Your words about others. Are you passing along speculation or edifying them?