Trashy Words

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

 Ephesians 4:29

Our culture has really developed a habit of trash talking. By trash talking, I am referring to those cheap, empty expressions that we often use. Just think of the words and expressions we hear on TV and in movies, read on the internet, and hear on the streets. In our passage today, Paul calls this unwholesome talk, and it should not be coming out of our mouths.

Our lives are made up of words. We begin our day with “good morning” and end our day with “good night.” If you think back to Genesis 1, God created the universe by speaking words. He said, “Let there be . . .” and there was.

We quickly remove stinking trash from our homes, but how about those unwholesome words. Are we realizing just how harmful they can be and how they affect our witness to others?

Think about some of the trash that may be in your vocabulary. Are your statements always true or do you sometimes slip in deceitful words? Deceitful words are misleading, and they cause us to tell “little white lies.” Satan is the champion liar. He loves to hear our lies because he knows that one lie will lead to another one. Before we know it, we find ourselves easily speaking deceitful statements.

What about gossip? Many people like to gossip. Aren’t we all guilty of spreading unfavorable information about someone? Paul says this about gossip in Romans 1:29-30: . . .They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful . . . We can see that gossips are put in the same category with murderers.   

Then we have that filthy language that slips out every now and then. Of course, the more we use profanity and filthy words, the more common they become to us. We must be aware that someone is always  listening. Children grow up using the words they have heard at home.

Remember, what we say reveals the condition of our heart.

Georgia Andrus