Devotional: Habits of Speech

^"4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. ⁵ Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, ⁶ from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,"

1 Timothy 1:4-6

These few verses are so relevant to me. They make me question the subject of my speech.

What do I talk about most?
How do I talk about it?
Why do I talk about it?
Should I be talking about it?
And must I change the habits of my speech?

Verse 4 notes that some subjects cause disputes rather than godly edification.

I spent some time meditating on this, and realized that there are definitely some parts of my speech are not godly or edifying. They include:

• Complaining
• Criticism
• Quick judgment

Verse 5 brings some very important steps to my attention.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if I "LOVE from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith", then godly edification will flow from my mouth??

I want to change that "perhaps" to "surely". Surely my speech will be godly when my heart is full of love?

Verse 6 points out that some people (may I say, all of us, at one point o r another?!) stray from love and purity and faith and godly speech, and turn instead to "idle talk".

For me, idle talk includes the amount that I lament about my life. I am quick to complain about what people do or say to me; what happened yesterday; how uncaring people are; how one coffee shop never, EVER gets the entire order right ;-) You know what I mean!

Another example is when I say or think that I do better than other people. So often I look at the way things are done and immediately see the failings. As a fairly organised person, something I do very regularly is see how others coordinate events or plan their time, and think of the ways that I would do it differently - aka, better.

Idle talk can simply be a quiet, off-hand judgment. Have you ever turned to the friend next to you and commented about what such-and-such is wearing or doing (in a negative way), even when you don't even really know that person? I sure have. If I don't know someone much deeper than a surface-level "hello, how are you?", surely I have no right to make a quick judgment about their dress code or actions!

So how can I be more edifying?

• When I am about to complain, realize that I am not perfect
• Replace criticism with thankfulness
• Look deeper into people before judging

I want my heart and life to be like Christ's, and my speech is one area I know that I need to improve!

What are some areas of speech that you struggle with?
How can you make your speech more edifying?

~Rachel