Idle Words

It’s always a good day when the Lord takes what the devil meant for evil and turns it into a growing moment. Recently during our family bible study, we came across a verse in Matthew that sparked an interest to a few of us. Matt 12:36-37 says, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” We discussed the verse a little that day, but it wasn’t until a few weeks later that its life application hit me like a freight train.

My natural state of mind is “thinking.” I am always thinking about my next step, thinking about how to be more efficient, thinking about why something happened, thinking about my next creative project, thinking about why people do things a certain way, thinking about thinking. It’s just what I do. That statement may stress some of you out, but thinking is soothing to me. My thinking leads me to challenging places in the Lord; it grows me spiritually and physically. What I never realized, until one enlightening Saturday morning, was that my thinking is offensive.

As I sat at breakfast with the family that morning, my mind was wandering to quite a few places. I was thinking about how to initiate bible studies in our home, some improvements we could make on running our business and a few house projects I wanted to complete. Out of habit, I started talking about my thoughts out loud. I like to bounce my ideas off others and see where they go with them. It helps me find direction. As I spewed my ideas out onto the family, I felt the hubs getting a little defensive. To shorten my story, things got a little heated and I ended up driving around town for two hours doing some soul searching.

I honestly couldn’t understand what happened. I started complaining to the Lord. One minute I’m sharing some simple thoughts, and the next minute I’m driving around all aggravated with my husband. Then, the Lord reminded of Matthew 12:36-37. He said, “Danielle, your thoughts aren’t processed. They are idle words, they are offensive and you will be accountable for them on judgment day.”

Offensive?!?!? What in world is offensive about bible studies and house projects?!?!? Then a peace came over me. The Lord revealed to me that all my thoughts scream, “DO, DO, DO!” to others. I may never intend to act upon my thoughts, but others hear, “let’s get this project started.” Sometimes, my thoughts mean nothing to me—they are just randomly floating around in my head which makes them idle. They become offensive when I say them out loud and others start feeling like they aren’t doing enough for me. Or, even worse, others start a project for me based on my idle words, and I end up changing what they thought was the plan twenty times because, in my head, it was never the plan in the first place.

What the devil meant for evil that Saturday morning ended up being a life changer for me. My thoughts spoken out loud are idle words. When we don’t process what comes out of our mouth through the Holy Spirit, we speak idle words. When we allow the Spirit to filter what we say, only love can be felt by those hearing our words. Love draws people to the Lord, offensiveness pushes them away. Regardless of how we meant them, idle words are offensive, and we will answer for them.

Jesus, help me to hear what comes out of my mouth. Remind me each time idle words slip off my tongue that You offer to filter my every word. Remind me to take You up on that offer so that others will feel Your love. Help me to see the difference when I allow You to guide my words instead of me. In Jesus’ Name.