“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your way, you go wrong. THE MSG Matthew 5:33-37
I like this version of scripture in Matthew because it speaks to all of us to glorify God, not ourselves, and mean what you say, and say what you mean.
Psalm 19:14 says, Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord. Speaking with “religiosity” or “religious lace” as Matthew calls it just makes it less true. Jesus is saying let your true heart be reflected in your speech.
Jesus said, ”But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”
Sometimes in the moment, people want to say the right thing or they are afraid they will say the wrong thing, so they embellish or just say nothing, but we will all be accountable.
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
What we say should bring God glory, not glorify us. Making promises we probably won’t keep, or saying we will pray for someone and then not doing it—those things hurt God’s heart and don’t make us trustworthy. The secret to victory over anything in your life is closeness to Jesus — intimacy with Him!
Father, help me and us to be a reflection of you and your love in all we do and say.
Deb Hill
Executive Assistant