Tuesday, November 18, 2008

How God's working on me...

I have been convicted over the past week about the words I speak. I mean, majorly convicted. In one of those things that only God can do, our message on Sunday was all about the words we speak! Saturday night I was asking Chris where the passage that says "out of your mouth your heart speaks", or something. Can you imagine on Sunday when up on the screen pops Matthew 12:34 "...Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks..." can you just see me slinking further down into my chair as I feel God working on my heart?
I do not keep a close reign on my words, I hate to admit this, but I love to gossip. I am also extremely sarcastic, and I love to get a laugh (you're not surprised, are you?). The combination of gossip, sarcasm, and "humor" sometimes lead my words to be less than desirable.
One of the best examples of this is the way I talk about my children. And a very specific example comes from our small group on Thursday night. Someone asked me how the boys were and my immediate response was "annoying, but good". A while later we were marveling at how cute another group baby is and I said, "Oh I love this stage, then they get to my boys age and YUCK!"
I don't really mean those things. I love being a mom, I really do. And I love my boys, and all that they are. When I say things like that and hold it up to Matthew 12:34, I feel a need to do a heart check. If what comes out of my mouth is truly a reflection of my heart, then "change my heart O' God.
Another example of this is the way I talk about Chris. So often I say things to get a laugh or out of pure sarcasm, but they in no way show him respect or are uplifting to him. I always assume that people know I'm being sarcastic, but lately I've found that's not always the case. Again, I love my husband, I'm proud of him and proud to be his wife. But my words aren't always showing that.
I don't know if you've ever experienced a Sunday where you just know God is speaking to you, but oooo it is uncomfortable. And after that experience I feel so much more accountability to think that what I'm saying is a reflection of what my heart is, and to keep my words in check.
If you want to read more about this topic, some other verses that have been speaking to me are:
Matthew 12:34-37
James 3:1-12
James 4:11-12
Ephesians 4:29

1 comments:

Mike, Eskai, Sarai and Jadon said...

Thank you for your honesty Tonya. You aren't the only one in this boat. The HS kicks me in the butt on a regular basis :-) Good thing God isn't finished working on us.