We did a post two years ago titled, What We Watch Matters, and in it, two points were made:

1. If we are to represent Christ, we should look different from the world. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

2. What we expose ourselves to is what we will end up thinking about in some capacity. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). It’s hard enough to fix our thoughts on these things in general, let alone if we are choosing to expose ourselves to material that stands in opposition to these things.

“Therefore, we are the Messiah's representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah's behalf: ‘Be reconciled to God!’” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” (Philippians 3:20)

What we say matters, in large part, because we are Christ’s representatives in this lost and broken world. This world is not our home; we are citizens of Heaven and should conduct ourselves as such. One way that we can represent Christ and live in this world as citizens of Heaven is through the words we speak.

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Notice that the instruction to not use foul or abusive language isn’t isolated to a certain group of words. You can tear someone down without using a single four-letter word; some of us know this through experience. Rather than focus on a single group of words that a culture deems bad, Paul puts our language under an umbrella labeled “foul and abusive.” Instead of using words that are foul and abusive, Paul says everything we say should be good and helpful. That would be a great goal for us all to strive toward.

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

“Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” (James 3:2)

James says if you don’t control your tongue, your religion is worthless, echoing Paul’s explanations of our Heavenly citizenship and our role as representatives of Christ. A hypocrisy we may have experienced in the past is being torn down by someone while they try to sit on their high horse, sometimes hiding behind piousness. We cannot accurately represent Christ and live as citizens of Heaven if we are using foul and abusive language. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and it is a big part of our walk with Christ. For James, it all starts with the tongue. He says if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and would be able to control ourselves in every other way, so let’s work toward controlling our tongues.

“‘I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,’” (Matthew 12:36)

In 2014, Dr. Matthias Mehl conducted a study to find out the answer to this question: Who talks more, men or women? The results were surprising. “‘We found that there was no significant gender difference whatsoever,’ Dr. Mehl said. On average, women speak 16,215 words per day and men speak 15,669 words per day.” What we say matters to God and we will give an account for every careless word we have spoken; according to the data, that could be quite a lot of words to account for, so we would do well to choose our words carefully, not carelessly. 

“Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.” (Ephesians 5:4)

It’s not just foul and abusive language, it’s not just flying off at the mouth and saying things carelessly without thinking, it’s also obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. I love to get a laugh, and before fully committing to following Christ there was not much I wouldn’t say if I knew it would make people laugh. It didn’t matter if it was coarse or rude or obscene or foolish—I would always say at the end, “I’m only joking.” The only thing I was showing, though, was that I cared more about getting a laugh or being thought of as funny than whether or not I was representing Christ accurately. Paul says that these things are not for us. If you’re going to commit to Christ, then you have to be done with telling coarse jokes and speaking foolishly and sharing obscene stories. After all, if a Christian looks and acts no different than a non-Christian, why should a non-Christian care about Christianity?

“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Matthew 3:8)

When we commit to following Christ, we have to strive to reach His standards. Commitment is the first step, then the real work begins. We must prove that we have repented of our sins and turned to God; one of the ways we can do this is through the words we say. We are His ambassadors and should not take that responsibility lightly. Let us represent Jesus appropriately by what we say because what we say matters.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed