Do you ever wonder how many words you speak per day? I read somewhere that the average woman speaks around 5,000 words per day whereas the average male speaks around 2,000. The amount of words we speak is not nearly a priority as the quality of the speech that proceeds from the mouth. Take for example what James says about the tongue, or the words that we speak:
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9-12
It was very disconcerting to James that a follower of Christ could praise God in one breath and curse human beings in another. To him it was not a natural occurrence for anyone who says they are a follower of Jesus Christ.
You can examine scripture and clearly see the kind of speech that God condemns. Everything from gossip and slander to lying and complaining. Jesus even tells us in Matthew 12:34 that a person's speech is an indicator of what the person really loves, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
OK, so here is a prayer that we can say every morning as we get up and set out on our daily adventure
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9-12
It was very disconcerting to James that a follower of Christ could praise God in one breath and curse human beings in another. To him it was not a natural occurrence for anyone who says they are a follower of Jesus Christ.
You can examine scripture and clearly see the kind of speech that God condemns. Everything from gossip and slander to lying and complaining. Jesus even tells us in Matthew 12:34 that a person's speech is an indicator of what the person really loves, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
OK, so here is a prayer that we can say every morning as we get up and set out on our daily adventure
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
This is good stuff! I've been really trying to work on this lately, and as always this verse from James has been following me! ha ha... God is pretty cool about that sometimes. It's crazy what comes out of my mouth... I never realized before but since I've been paying attention it's kinda scary. I've been trying to use different verses for prayer over it but this Psalm is a good one! (the Beth Moore bible study I just finished taught the principle of using scriptures to pray and it's amazing! I can't believe I never thought of it before!)
I miss you guys!!!
Posted by: Jeni | January 27, 2009 at 09:27 PM
Wow ... somewhere, the stats I read were 30000 words for women and 12000 for men ...
Posted by: Randy | May 21, 2009 at 04:24 PM