Ephesians 4:29

"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

We have a rule at our house. Potty words stay in the potty room. The other night, my two youngest boys were quite full of it at the dinner table - throwing out all kinds of words that had to do with anatomy and body function and giggling at each other. I reminded them of the rule and two of them ran their giggle bodies to the bathroom, closed the door and yelled out all their words to their hearts' content. They came out and said they were done and then said, "No, we're not" and ran back to the bathroom.

Even though it was little tikes being silly, that is the kind of words I would consider crude or at least rude. It makes me think of nutrition. There are some foods that are BAD for you. Some that are really good for you - and then there are those "non-food". They may not be BAD for you, but they are like eating empty calories. They are unwholesome.

It is challenging to me that we are instructed to not just block crude and BAD talk from our mouths...but anything that is unwholesome - words that simply are not good, beneficial, encouraging, empty.

Our words should be to the souls of others, like food should be to the body - nutritious, wholesome, building up, beneficial, strengthening.

What one thing do you need to change about your speech that you could start working on today? For me, it would be sarcasm. :P