THURSDAY, 31 JULY 2025 TIME TO CLEAN UP YOUR SPEECH For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned - Matthew 12:37 On the day of judgment, not only will our thoughts and actions matter, but our words as well. God will not only judge the secrets of our hearts, but what we said while in this world as well. Of course, through our words we declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, or we can reject Him. Through our words, we can confess the Lord Jesus Christ before men in the face of persecution or deny Him. Both have a bearing on our salvation when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. However, it’s not enough to just confess the Lordship of Jesus, and to confess Him before men in the face of persecution. We must also watch how we speak to others in general because our words can disqualify us for immortality in the world to come. Your words, like your actions, will be the deciding factor whether you enter the world to come or not. This is very serious. Exodus 20:16 says, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ Bearing false witness against your neighbour is basically lying. It’s lying to and about others. There are Christians who are liars. Let’s start at the top. There are ministers of the gospel who hold God’s truth in hypocrisy. That’s how you can tell if a minister of the gospel lies in everyday life as well. When he or she is willing to twist doctrine and compromise God’s word, that’s a sure sign that he or she lies off the pulpit as well. When a minister is a stickler for sound doctrine and is unwilling to lie to God’s people, and even apologise when he or she has made a doctrinal mistake, just know you’re dealing with a truth-teller, on and off the pulpit. There are also Christians who don’t fear God and lie pathologically. They lie to protect themselves. They lie to attack others. They defame others’ character. Like snakes, they twist and turn. They’re slippery. They frame, manipulate, and control through lies. If that’s you, through your words, you’ll be condemned because all liars will have their place in the lake of fire. Ephesians 4:29 says, ‘Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.’ There should be no corrupt communication that comes out of our mouths, such as lying, of course. But also swearing, telling dirty jokes, and gossiping. There are also Christians who are verbally abusive. Through their words, they put others down, mock them, belittle them, laugh at them, call them names, make them the butt of their jokes, make them objects of scorn, and turn people against them. All of that is punishable by death in the lake of fire. God has called us to love and not to hate. 1 John 3:15 says, ‘Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.’ We are the sons of God. We have received eternal life by faith. And our faith must have works. If we hate others, we will mistreat them instead of loving them. We’ll lie to and about them. We’ll use corrupt communication towards them. We’ll abuse them verbally. But if we truly have eternal life in us, we’ll speak well to them and about them. Our words to them will be salted with grace. The Lord Jesus Christ is near. It’s time to repent and clean up our speech. CONFESSION I do not lie to or about others. No corrupt communication comes out of my mouth. My words are always salted with grace, for I know how to answer everyone. Glory to God! https://www.facebook.com/100068613729631/posts/pfbid02UJ4PuiZWAdH2AZ3Zmmg9EWSqsQofSAHWUwn2sXxn3Ls7Qe7VzQYYp9da8jKy7auKl/