I didn’t mean what I said, or did I?

Here's a new Precious Prodigal post for July 24, 2014: I didn’t mean what I said, or did I? #openmouthinsertfoot Please "Share" using this "ShortLink" = http://bit.ly/1pgdVvg

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord"

When I began writing about the things I need to “lay aside” in order to grow spiritually, I never expected I would still be writing about it four weeks later. The more I study the Scriptures in order to write, the more I see how often I’m a hindrance to my own growth.

That’s what happened when I was writing yesterday about the words we say and the intent behind them. I really do want to “walk worthy” of the high calling I have in Christ Jesus, and my guess is you do too. Why else would you be reading a blog that so often asks you to look at yourself and own your part of any situation?

You might think someone who writes a blog like mine would have a positive mind set all the time. But that’s not always the case. Like any of us who love a prodigal, sometimes there’s sorrow and anger that make it almost impossible for me to encourage anyone including myself. However, I really do want my words to be pleasing to the Lord and to have them “edify and minister grace to the hearers.” (Eph 4:29)

After cruel words have been said, I’ve heard people say, “I didn’t mean that.” The truth is we almost certainly did mean exactly what we said, at least at the moment. You and I are as capable of cruelty as our prodigals…maybe even more so because of the wounds we carry. So maybe a more honest statement would be, “I didn’t mean to say that”

How can I master a tongue that wants to say the ugly things that are going through my head or hiding deep in my broken heart? Is such a thing even possible? It is indeed possible, and I believe the key to doing it can be found in Psalm 19:14. David asked God to “let the words of [his] mouth be acceptable” in God’s sight, but that’s not all he asked. He asked that the “meditations of his heart” also be acceptable.

We need those meditations to be right as much as David did because out of “the abundance of the heart [our] mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45) If we think it enough times, we are absolutely going to say it. And we’re going to say it knowing and not caring that it hurts. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

While we often don’t have a choice about being hurt, we do have a choice about whether we brood on it. If I continuously replay how badly my prodigal has treated me, I shouldn’t be surprised if I strike out, saying things I wish later had been left unsaid. So what can I do?

Although I may be powerless over what’s happening, I can choose whether to focus on it. Rather than focusing on my prodigal or my pain, I can choose to meditate on things that are “true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report, things of virtue, things of praise.” (Phil 4:8)

If you and I have let our world get so small that we can’t think of any of those things, whose fault is that? And if our entire focus is our prodigal, that prodigal has become our god, and that’s a whole new issue.

If we love a prodigal, there are already plenty of regrets on everyone’s part. We don’t need to add to them with the things we say. The way to avoid saying them is by going to the root…our hearts.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, meditate on positive things rather than on your pain?