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What have you been saying?

Careless words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing. (Proverbs 12:18) 

Tennyson reminds us, "Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within." There are words we speak that 'reveal' little bits and pieces of our inner thoughts and dreams. Equally important are those words we never 'reveal' - for they are the truest words that reveal the inner soul of a man, are they not? Most of us have learned to 'weigh' our words - considering if they should be spoken or not. There are times when we should have 'weighed' them a bit but didn't take the time. Those are words that might have revealed a bit more of ourselves than we wanted others to see. When those words have escaped our lips, it leaves us vulnerable - feeling a little 'naked' in the end. 

We have all had those times when our words were just the right ones for the moment, but I daresay we have all had many moments when we 'emptied' a bit of our soul out in expression to another, not really intending to do so. What do your words reveal? What do they conceal? These are two very important 'discussions' to have with yourself - and with God. Words can draw others to us, or they can repel those who wanted to draw near. When we discuss those two questions with God, we must be prepared to hear what he has to say to us about what is uncovered. He may just put his finger on something we would not have really wanted him to know - forgetting that he knows all things!

God isn't concerned with how we 'look' or what others think about us - he is concerned about how we 'are' and what he thinks about us. In turn, he wants us to think about ourselves the same way he does. He may point out something we are trying to hide with our words - like when we put ourselves down because we don't think anyone would appreciate our talents. Many things we tell ourselves are not always true, but we have come to believe them as truth because we have said them so many times. God will never use our words to hurt us, but he may use them to help us know ourselves just a bit better. Just sayin!

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