Purify my 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
Ephesians is one of my favourite books in the Bible. It's a book that I can read many times and always find something new about it. It's short and sweet, but incredibly deep. It's pretty much a summary of the Christian faith and how those beliefs should be lived out. We can say that it's divided into two parts—but they need each other, and they need to be in the right order.
The first half of Ephesians focuses on our relationship with God in Christ; the second half is about how that relationship moves from salvation worked in ourselves, to salvation worked out. It's about our relationship with others in the Lord. First comes justification through faith— that means that we have been made right before God, not because of what we have done but because we believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. And then, comes sanctification—the outcome of a life that understands that salvation is at work.
The Apostle Paul wrote the Ephesians' letter to a flourishing church. But Paul knew that anything that grows needs to be looked after, and he wanted to make sure that those churches were well established on the right foundation.
When we have experienced salvation, we can easily stop there. No growth—just a 'cosy faith' that we keep safe just for us. But that's not what we have been saved for; faith without deeds is dead (James 2:14) or will eventually die. However, it's always important to remind ourselves that we are not saved BY our good deeds. Instead, we are also saved FOR good deeds.
Our faith is a moving current. It's like a 'forward flow'; it's alive! As we live our salvation out, Goodness is one of the fruits that we will bear (Galatians 5:22).
These fruits directly impact how we relate to other people and how our relationships are built. The way we live our faith and how that affects the people around us directly connects us to our beliefs. From the moment we understand that Christ is the one who allows us to have a relationship with God, we learn that He is also the one who governs our relationship with others.
For the next few weeks, I will be focusing on a few of these "good fruits" and how they play a role as we live out our faith in Christ through our relationships.
Our faith isn't supposed to be only about our personal salvation—the vertical relationship; it's also about each other and how we relate to one another—the horizontal relationship.
This week I want to focus on the words I speak to and about others.
In Ephesians 4:29 it says: "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.”
How hard is it to control what we say? God knows so much about this challenge that we have plenty of Scriptures talking about the tongue and the power it carries.
The tongue and what comes from it, in summary, can generate life or death (Proverbs 18:21). That's pretty powerful. As I said, God knows it—through His words, life was created (Genesis 1:3).
When Paul encourages the Ephesians to keep, not just some, but ANY unwholesome talk (rotten/corrupted words) out of their mouths, he reminds them that the transformation within, through our salvation, needs to come out. And what we should talk to and about one another should ONLY be what is helpful for BUILDING others UP according to what they need to hear.
No, it doesn't mean that we always have to agree with everything to keep people pleased when it's clear that their choices will eventually hurt them. It means that sometimes we might have to approach a character issue or decision that might harm them, by challenging them in love so that they can grow. It's as simple as it's said. There's no excuse; we have to learn to control the things that come out of our mouths, how we talk to and about others, especially those that share the same faith.
It also means that from our mouths, the words should be pure and full of life. One of the prayers we should pray is that God will purify our words in order to keep building His people up, based on what they need. May the words of our mouth be words that benefit those who get to hear them as they meet us for a coffee or even in a simple conversation. May the words we speak about each other in their absence fill a room with gratitude and life, and may the people who listen to us never have to be fed by rotten words that come out of our mouths; but words that fill their lives with hope and life.
For you:
This week I want to encourage you to pray and ask God to not only purify your words but also that you may have wisdom in your speech. Ask God to show you the areas you need to grow and ask Him for forgiveness.
Revised by Elena Walker
