Our words define our world, whether we think so or not. I was preaching some about that last week at church. An example I gave of that was, suppose your wife cooked your favorite meal, and you gave her a glowing compliment about how good it was. You can bet she will appreciate that, and will be very pleased with you. But suppose you told her, “That was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, are you trying to poison me?” I’d imagine you’d be sleeping on the couch tonight, maybe tomorrow too.


But let’s take that a bit farther; how do you talk to your husband, or your wife, or your kids, or others? If Jesus was standing right there beside you, would you use that same tone of voice or the same words?

Suppose you were in the midst of an argument, and the doorbell rings, and it’s your Pastor, or me; would you suddenly put on a smile and stop your arguing? I’d bet you would. But yet, any Spirit-filled person could walk into that room and sense the spirit of strife there, because it hangs in the air like freshly cooked dead catfish and cabbage.

How often we tend to forget that where WE are, the HOLY SPIRIT is there with us, if we are Spirit-filled. Now I’m not talking about unbelievers, I’m talking to the Body of Christ here. We are without excuse when we talk ugly to people, and expecting God to bless that. Sure, there will be disagreements with others, because we don’t all have the same personality or preferences. We can disagree peacefully. But talking ugly is not of Christ. And when we say thing that we wouldn’t say in front of Jesus, we are grieving the Holy Spirit. And we all know that’s not good. Or at least I HOPE we know that.

Looking at the news this week about the elections saddens me badly. I saw videos about people yelling and screaming obscenities to one another, and surely there were some Christians among them because some of them were Pro-Lifers, and yet, would they have acted like that if Jesus showed up in person? How we behave and speak every day shows the fruit of our life, whether we belong to Jesus, or whether we belong to the evil one. Jesus said you shall know them by their fruits. And some of us act pretty fruity, to say the least.

How should we act and speak? Here’s what the Bible has to say about it in Matthew 7:16-21 ;

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Again, it is written in Galatians 5:19-23,
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Again, Proverbs 15:1-4,
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
4 A WHOLESOME TONGUE IS A TREE OF LIFE: BUT PERVERSENESS THEREIN IS A BREACH IN THE SPIRIT.

When we choose words of peace and life, it is peace and life to our own life, as well as the hearers. If we were as careful with our words as if we were in the presence of the Lord Jesus, we would do very well. Is it easy? No, but it’s necessary. Do I do it right all the time? Sorry, I don’t, but I’m working on it daily. I’m sorry for words coming out of my mouth that I wouldn’t say in the presence of Jesus. Are YOU?

I’m asking Him for the grace necessary to make all my words pleasing, and since we often eat our words, we should make them as tasty as possible. I was going to say “sweet”, but some of you may be on a low-calorie diet, so I chose “tasty” instead. I’m praying the LORD remind you that He is always there with you, even though you can’t see Him, so you (and I) become more careful of what we speak. Because our world is framed by our words, we must choose them CAREFULLY! Speak only as if Jesus is there with you, because He IS!