Idle Words

Something unexpected happened the other day, something that caused me to breathe a sigh of relief, and as I did so, I thought, God is so good!

But then I felt a tug of conviction at my heart: was God good in that moment? Yes, He was! But would He have been good had that particular detail not gone the way I wanted? I had to admit the answer to this also was yes, because the goodness of God transcends the circumstances of life (and my opinion of them.)

Of course it isn’t wrong to acknowledge the flawless, unchanging goodness of God, but I realized in that moment that my thinking was off: I was inadvertently making my own definition of God’s goodness—in this case, thinking that God was “good” simply because I had gotten things my way.

While that sigh of relief was still in my lungs, I had flippantly classified the happy event as goodness God had shown. But as I thought it through, I realized in this case, a better word was mercy. I know that seems like a fine and perhaps unnecessary line, but we have both words in our vocabulary (and our Bibles) for a reason. The two often go together, but they are not interchangeable.

It made me realize that I so often get into a habit of just mouthing words without really thinking deeply about their meaning. This leads to speaking carelessly or thoughtlessly. Jesus said,

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:35-36

Idle words…that Greek word translated idle means just that—inactive, lazy, and useless. How important are the words that pour so abundantly and effortlessly from our mouths each day? Colossians 3:17 commands us,

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”

The book of Proverbs also has much to say about our words. Here are a couple verses that immediately come to mind when I think of careless speech:

“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19

“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” Proverbs 29:20

In contrast, Proverbs also shows us what our words are to be characterized by:

“The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.” Proverbs 18:4

In our culture of careless, casual, thoughtless words, our speech is to glorify God by reflecting the depth of His wisdom.

So, how are your words, dear Reader? Are you a deep wellspring overflowing with the wisdom of God’s Word, or are you more like a parking lot puddle, speaking words that are shallow, stagnant, and tainted with the wisdom of this world?

Our words are important: let’s take time to think before we speak, and to fill our hearts and minds with the wisdom of God!

“Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.” Proverbs 23:12