“Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.” Proverbs 4:24

Yesterday, we looked at the verse above and noted the connection between the mouth

and the heart that both Solomon and Jesus make in Scripture. We also recognized that

when life scares us, or angers us or confuses us, the mouth often provides a window

into the heart, revealing areas of sin that require God’s sanctifying touch of grace. But

when we think about corrupt talk we often falsely assume that God is most concerned

with the words we use towards others. And while that’s important, He is equally

concerned with the words that we use towards ourselves.

Later in the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes: “Death and life are in the power of the

tongue.” Proverbs 18:21 Here, the wise King is drawing attention to the power that our

words have; power to either sustain us or destroy us, power to keep our heart or crush

it. Our internal self-talk (that unseen record playing in our heart that only we can hear)

reflects what we believe most deeply about God and what we believe most deeply

about ourselves. And we can complain about the things other people say or post about

us online but the reality is no one is ever going to say more damaging things to us than

the things we often say to ourselves. In Ephesians 4:29, Paul writes:

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building

up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

And you know who hears our words more than anyone else….OURSELVES! Paul is

commending us… TOSS THE TRASH TALK…and this begins with the way that we

speak to the man or woman in the mirror. Keeping our heart and cultivating mental

resilience begins by monitoring our mouth and aligning our internal self talk with God’s

word. We need to wake up and make daily declarations of truth concerning God and

concerning ourselves. We need to hear ourselves declare, out loud: “God is always

good, God is deeply involved in the circumstances of my life, God is always in control.”

And concerning ourselves we need to hear: “I am loved, I am a chosen son/daughter of

God, my future is absolutely beautiful.”

Q: If we could mic up your heart, and listen to your self-talk, what might we hear?

Q: Of the declarations I’ve listed above related to God and related to self, which ones do

you find most difficult to believe?

By Jimmy Carter

Your Daily Missions Moment:

Do you have time to serve?  Assuming you sleep 8 hours per day and work 8 hours Monday through Friday, that leaves 40 hours during the week, and 32 hours on the weekend that are not spoken for. Many of our volunteer opportunities only require one hour per week. Consider giving at least one hour per week in 2025 to serve in the church or in the community. We would love to help you find a place.