Ephesians 5:4 (NLT)
Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
Does everybody do this? I know I do. There are words and sentences that come out of my mouth that I would not want repeated from a pulpit or on my radio show. Words and sentences that people may laugh at, but I would never say in the presence of my most Godly mentors. Words and sentences that would bring a very serious rebuke into my children’s lives. Words and sentences that I will have to answer for one day:
“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the Day of Judgment.” -- Matthew 12:36
I hope you won't turn today’s devotional into some sort of legalistic attack on your walk with Christ. Believe me, I’d be throwing a stone inside my own glass house. The call of Christ is a call to purity and holiness. It’s a call to a higher standard of living, not because it earns us brownie points with our Creator, but because it reflects the pure beauty of our sinless Savior. It’s also a call to be different, and what could be a more obvious difference than a vocabulary that doesn’t include all of the obscenity, foolishness, and coarse jokes that make up our dialog in 21st-century America.
They are not for us, anymore.
