To Give Account

Matthew 12: 16-17

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Wow, we really must be aware of what we're saying all the time. 

My late husband had a horrible potty mouth before God found him, and that was helped the next morning after he was saved. But, decades later, when he was the president of his own company, conversing with other business heads about the machinery they needed, when he went on automatic, those words would slip out without his notice. When I called his attention to it, it was a big surprise to him! 

We all need to pay attention to the words and attitudes we allow to escape from our mouths. Especially if we were saved later, after childhood, after we created bad habits. 

It's not easy to pause in the heat of a passionate exchange to think about the words we are about to use in defense of our position. Even if the other party is attacking our persons and personalities, we must take the higher ground and stick to the issue with pure language. 

O my Father, please continue to help me, teach me to put a guard on my mouth and tongue, to carefully consider the words of my lips, before I say them. 

Keep me mindful, Father, of Your ways and Your way of seeing things. Give me Your eyes to see, Your ears to hear, and Your understanding to perceive the events of my life according to Your Truth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!