Proverbs 18:7: “The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.”
The way you speak impacts the way you live.
When I was in middle school, I was really excited to go to the orthodontist. All the cool kids had braces, and I wanted some colored brackets on my teeth, too. However, I didn’t walk out of Dr. C’s with braces. I walked out with a lip bumper. My lip bumper wasn’t colored or anything. It was just a metal bar that puffed out my bottom lip to keep it from touching my teeth. It looked silly and made it really hard for me to speak. To this day, I remember being picked on for pronouncing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” like “Wockin Awound the Cwistmas Twee.” The way I spoke seemed to be all people noticed about me for months.
The way we talk matters. When we speak words of encouragement, we find ourselves encouraged. When we speak words of positivity, we find ourselves thinking positively. When we speak words of kindness, we find ourselves being kind. The opposite is also true. When you lie, your life lacks authenticity. When you deceive, your life lacks genuine relationships. When you gossip, your life lacks trust. When you complain, your life lacks contentment. You don’t just become known for what you talk about; you become what you talk about.
Are your words bringing your life joy and thankfulness or are your words bringing you negativity and conflict?