I was in a public place the other day and saw a sign that said, “Words Matter.” This was obviously referring to verbal abuse in the workplace but as Christians this is very applicable to us too. The Bible has much to say about our words. Psalm 19:1 says,” Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord” (NKJV). How can we make sure that our words are acceptable to God? Firstly, we need to think before we speak (Ps 141:3, Prov 21:23, 17:27, 28, James 1:19). If we do this, we are less likely to speak angry words, “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Prov 15:1,2). Our words are powerful, with them we can speak life or death over a person’s life (Prov 18:21). Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:25 not to lie but to speak the truth. In verse 29 of the same chapter, he tells us that our words should encourage others. Then in Colossians 4:6 we learn that our speech should be “gracious” (pleasant or kind) (see also Prov 16:24). These are all things that are pleasing to God. The letter of James devotes a whole chapter to the tongue and James 1:26 says that our Christianity is worthless if we don’t control our tongues. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that we will have to account for every care less words we speak on judgment day. In addition to watching what we say and how we speak, our words can also speak our faith (Mark 11:23) but that’s a topic for another day!