Our Words

Saturday was a day where I was feeling hopeless. I needed to remember that my hope is in the LORD! A dear friend of mine in high school pointed me to I Peter and ever since then when I feel hopeless I read...I Peter.
That night right before bed I took in my booster shot of hope, but the Lord showed me something else that I was not expecting. "The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil." I Peter 3:10-12
I have been in so many situations where people find themselves in a situation that they don't want to be in or have been hurt by someone and they don't watch what they say. They would rather let their tongue speak deceit and turn from evil.
God has recently brought me face to face with this. There are a handful of people who within the last few months have really hurt me, but over and over again I remember that the eyes of the LORD are on me and I desire to have Him look upon me and grant me peace. Often times when I am tempted to say something negative or tear someone down I think of a tube of toothpaste. Now this illustration is my working with children coming out, but I think it is so clear. When you squeeze a tube of toothpaste you can not put it back in just like our words. I can not take my words back once they come out. I can ask for forgiveness, but I can not take the words back. Especially over the last couple of weeks I have been very aware of this. So, most people have been in a friendship/relationship that did not quite go as planned and then your friends find out about it and ask you about it...Well, this happened to me and people were continually coming up to me saying negative things or trying to get me to say negative things and I just kept thinking that everyone involved are children of Christ and that if I say something negative to tear anyone of them down I am no better than they are. It is about living for Christ and having a heart and attitude and living like Him.
I want my words to bring honor and glory to Christ not to tear down. May God work in your heart and may His words build you up!