WATCH YOUR MOUTH!

 

 

(Mark 14:69-70) "And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. "

Speech: An individual manner or style of speaking. Something that is spoken.

It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, we all have been given distinct and recognizable voices or speech patterns. Our speech, no matter what dialect or language we speak, is owned by us. Yes, we may have voice imitators who can mimic us but our speech is ours personally. A parent can recognize her children's voice or cry among a room filled with other children. The sound or voice pattern of that child distinguishes them from the rest.

When we became Christians and old things in our lives became new, we inherited through the blood of Jesus, a new speech. We no longer should use the old pattern of our speech but must put on Christ's speech and a new way of talking. How we once talked, things we allowed to come out of our mouth should be different now. People who we once ran with or were buddies with should notice a change in us by our speech. Even if a person who once knew Christ and decide to not walk with him any longer still have Christ's mark upon him. They can try to fit in with the world, act like the world and do what the world do, but their speech will betray them.

I have been among individuals not knowing their backgrounds, church affiliations or lifestyle, but as soon as conversation (speech) was engaged, I could recognize somehow if they had once walked with the Lord or is walking with the Lord. It's a "knowing" by the spirit and by their conversation. Everyday, we must be careful how we talk, express ourselves and behave among others. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples who followed him closely, thought he could hide his identity after Jesus was arrested. He didn't realize that people had seen him with Jesus and what unmasked his identity more was his speech.

When you know Christ and have allowed his character to become a part of your being, you cannot hide it. Peter denied who he was and he also denied the Christ. When we are among our family, friends, coworkers, strangers or whomever, we should let our light shine and allow God to use our speech to speak life, deliverance and salvation to them. God needs our voice to be His mouthpiece. Our speech should not consist of profanity, defaming or unkind comments, lies, deceit, bitter or abusive words. Speech from our lips should be godly, words filled with kindness, exhortation, encouragement, enlightenment, inspiration and full of faith. When we allow God to change our hearts and our lives, He changes everything about us including our speech. Someone is steadily watching us and "listening" to us. Let us WATCH OUR SPEECH and not be guilty of denying the Christ in us, the hope of Glory!