Free speech or speech that is freeing?

Out of the mouth of Babes

   What did you just say?! This question is usually met with big doe eyes and trembling lips as the child scrambles to remember what offensive word just came out of his mouth. Every mother in the history of time has probably asked their child this question at least once. Whether it's a result of that infamous rhyming game, or repeating something they heard from T.V. or a family member, the result is the same, shock and embarrassment. This is usually followed up with a screeching admonishment in a voice thats a whole octave higher than normal, a bar of soap and a lonely stay in your bedroom. (That is if you grew up in my house.) Yes, I can testify that one soap does not taste any better than another and that soapy taste lasts for hours.

   When  I think about my panic over certain "bad" words I wonder why I am not as cautious about the words I speak everyday. Why does it feel uncomfortable to speak positive  or encouraging words? Criticizing and complaining seems to become the accepted norm and negative outlooks cloud my expectations.

   Proverbs 21:23 says, " Watching what you say can save you a lot of trouble." (CEV)

    When I read this verse I think "well that's a no brainer" but putting it into practice is a little harder. We live in a pretty negative world and we are constantly being fed scary and depressing news. Negative speaking is an easy pit to fall into, climbing out of that pit can be a hard and tiresome task. Phrases like "This is killing me," "everything bad always happens to me." and "I'm broke." can send me into a negative spiral. Why is Monday any worse than the other days of the week and don't even get me started on Murphy's Law, he must have been a barrel of laughs to be around.

Psalm 141:3 says, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."

   This is my prayer, some days I pray it more than others, I recognize that I can't do it on my own and a guard or reminder sounds good to me.

It's not that I go around only speaking words of wisdom and quoting scripture but by choosing my topics wisely and using scripture as my guide, I can have a positive conversation that I'm not going to worry about later. Who knows, maybe I made someone else's day better too.