Let the words of my mouth be acceptable,
the thoughts of
my heart before you,
LORD, my rock and
my redeemer. (Psalms 19:15)
Whoever listens to you, listens to me. . . . (Luke
10:13-16)
If others know you are a Christian and a Catholic, when you
speak, you speak representing that faith and God's Church and by extension God
Himself. Every word out of our mouths is a word by which the truth that we live
will be weighed.
In the letter of James we are warned that loose speaking is
the enemy of God's work (James 3). If we speak loosely about people, events, or
things, people will see that in us. They will say, “Ah, so this is Christianity”.
It isn't fair, but it is the way that
people work. No, we're not always in good moods; we're not always the best
representatives of Jesus. But when we speak and people listen, they are
listening to a representative of Jesus. For other people we are Jesus, our
words are His words.
This is not to say that we shouldn't talk, but only that we
should, through prayer and requesting help from the Holy Spirit, speak only
what is edifying or helpful to those in need. We needn't always be mouthing
empty pieties, but we also needn't be trash-talking our neighbors, our government
(well, maybe just a little bit), or for that matter, anything. We need to
listen with the Spirit within us and respond as He dictates - with counsel and
advice or with joy and merriment. After all, Jesus did attend the festivities
at Cana (John 2:1-11), and there's no need to think He's always solemn or
somber. Let our words reveal our hearts and He who dwells in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment