By LARRY TIMM

Gracepoint Church, Peabody

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

The word “unwholesome” means “rotten” or “contaminating.” It carries the idea of the uselessness of something that is said, or the way that our words can have a bad influence on a listener. This is one area of our discipleship that is most often ignored. Paul must have wanted us to understand the power of our words because he talked as much about our speech as he did any other topic.

Jesus said that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is in our hearts. Are your words “rotten” or “contaminating?” Someone once suggested that Christians ought to write Ephesians 4:29 on an index card and put it on the wall by their telephones. To update things, maybe we ought to put it on our cell phone screens so it’s the first thing we see before we start talking to someone.

What do your words say about you?