Everyday God inspires me and takes me to another level of my own spirituality to write these devotions. I always think about the words that I use, and I am cautious to think before I write. We all need to be cautious with the words that we use, because demeaning words, such as calling someone dumb or stupid, have no place in our Christian vocabulary. Every insensitive word is offensive to God. In Matthew 12:36, we find these words:

“And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.”

In verse 24, we find that the Pharisees had heard about the miracle where Jesus healed the demon-possessed man. They said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” The Pharisees used words that were insensitive. Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, spoke about being careful of the words we use, indicating in verse 37 that the words we choose would either free us or condemn us. We cannot say everything that we think. We cannot gossip, backbite or use the Lord’s name in vain. I remember the expression, “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This is not true! Words do hurt! On the other hand, words can encourage someone. My prayer, today, is that we each would make every effort to take the time to think about the words that we use so that our choices will always bring honor and glory to God.