Talk is Cheap

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. – Ephesians 4:29 (MSG)

According to Ephesians 4:29, each word is a gift. With that being said, are you the person in the room giving the best gifts or are you the one giving cheap gifts every time you speak? I recently watched a movie about a man who said a lot, but his words were empty and surface. His life became symbolic with a tree, and for every word spoken, the tree lost a leaf until it was almost bare. It left me wondering if we had trees, just how many leaves would be left on ours?

And if you’re plugged into social media networks, you’ll find that there are a lot of people spending time every day spilling meaningless words laced with empty thoughts to people they barely have a relationship with…talking cheap. There are a few valuable pearls of wisdom, but you have to wade through the clams to find them. In the words of my Mississippian father, “you talkin, but you ain’t sayin nothin”.

I am thankful that we serve a God whose words are powerful, effective and true. The bible says that God’s word doesn’t return to him unaccomplished. He doesn’t waste His words and just as He spoke in the days of old, He continues to speak today. His words are everlasting and unlimited. He is like an eternal tree with unlimited leaves.

Truthfully, we are trees with limited leaves and we are limited to the words we speak within our lifetime. After we die, only the words we’ve already spoken remain. When you leave a conversation, a room, or even a friendship, what words do you want to leave behind? Let’s be meaningful, purposeful, and passionate about the words we share in prayer as well as the words we share with each other. Focus on speaking what is helpful, and give people good gifts when you speak, rather than cheap conversation.

My prayer is that the words I’ve shared with you have been received as good gifts :0)

Tracy Gale