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May 24, 2022 18:00pm

Faith TALK: Clean Words

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Focus Verse: I hope my words and thoughts please you. Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me. – Psalm 19:14 (ICB)

T-Talk About It Topic

Tell me about a time (or two) when you said something you shouldn’t have.

Oh boy, our mouths have sure gotten us in trouble a time or two! I bet all of us can remember saying something that has gotten us into trouble. Maybe it was an honest thought that came out rude. Maybe it was something you said impulsively. Maybe it was something inappropriate. Or maybe it was just something that didn’t reflect your faith. Whatever the reason was, we are focusing on cleaning up, or purifying, the words that come out of our mouths. Our goal is to try to get those words to reflect our faith.

A-Anchor To The Bible

Purity and words are a big deal to Jesus. He explained what made people “unclean” in Matthew 15:10, 15-20. You see, Jews thought they had to do certain things to be “clean” – things like washing their hands beforehand and following certain rules on what they could and could not eat. The Pharisees questioned Jesus about this because the disciples did not cleanse their hands before eating. Jesus taught a powerful lesson in verses 10-11, 15-20 about purity. He said it wasn’t what we put in our mouths that made us dirty – it’s what comes out of our mouths. Jesus’ disciples were confused, so later on, they asked him what he meant by this. Jesus said that the words we speak reflect what is in our hearts. That just meant that whatever we think about, we talk about. So, if we are speaking in an unclean way, it means our words are coming from an unclean heart.

So, what are some things that we can think that are considered unclean? Verse 19 has our answer: thoughts of lying, stealing, murder, adultery, sexual sin, and saying bad things about others. Long before we ever say anything “unclean”, we’ve thought about it first.

How can we clean up our words? Well, there are a few good ways. First, we pay more attention to what we are saying. Do our words reflect honestly? Kindness? Appropriate language? Positivity? Do we keep our word? These attributes help us have hearts of integrity so that our words reflect this.

Another thought: If a video camera followed you around every day, what would it reveal about your words?

Second, at some point in our lives, we all fail in these areas. Being quick to confess our sins and reaching out to Jesus for help is a great beginning! But the most powerful way we can change our speech is just to spend time with the Lord – reading His Word, praying, listening to praise and worship music are just a few ways we can deepen our relationship in a way that impacts our words.

L-Learn God’s Word

It’s tough to always talk in a way that reflects our faith. We can get hurt or betrayed. We fail or fall short of our goals. We get angry or offended. We feel insecure and insignificant. There are so many instances that can impact the words that come out of our mouths. Writing down Psalm 19:14 is key to helping us be more conscious of what we say. Consider it a short prayer: “Lord, help my words and thoughts please you. Save me from saying something I shouldn’t. Let my words reflect my love for you.” Think of this prayer as one way that can help us clean up, or purify, our hearts…because before we ever said it, we thought it. Focusing on being more honest, kind, encouraging, positive, and trustworthy will help us have hearts of integrity.

K-Keep Each Other Accountable

Try an Honesty Challenge with your kiddos. Challenge them to tell the truth for 24 hours!

Challenge your older kiddos to complete a short, daily Bible Study over our focus verses. Have them report back to you daily and watch them grow in God’s Word.