Nugget of the Day: Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus. 2 Timothy 2:16-17Words are powerful. They can damage reputations, lead a person to sin or lower a person’s self-esteem. People love to talk. Sometimes they talk just to hear their own voice. When we speak, we have to be very careful what comes out of our mouths. One simple comment can ruin reputations, destroy families or lose jobs. Our words can cause another person to sin and go astray. Not only can our words harm others, but they can also hurt ourselves too. Whatever comes from our mouths is heard by our ears. We can be our greatest enemy. When we speak unkindly of ourselves, doubt our abilities or self-worth or criticize our loved ones we cause unrest in our minds. We no longer believe in ourselves. Instead, we begin to adopt the image we have portrayed of ourselves. Instead of landing the job, succeeding when trying something new or loving ourselves we set ourselves up for failure. Worthless and foolish talk also affects our faith Our voice is a representative of who we are. When we speak poorly of others or ourselves, people notice. Our voice can give Christianity a good name or a bad name. There are many times when we only have one shot at speaking to someone. Every day we cross paths with strangers who see our crosses around our neck, see a bumper sticker or anything else that announces we are Christians. These people form an instant opinion of us by our words and how we speak them. My prayer tonight is that we filter our thoughts before we allow them to leave our mouths. Let us also filter how we talk to ourselves and others. Lifting ourselves and others up is the key to all of us succeeding in fulfilling our callings. I pray that before we speak to anyone we ask ourselves if Jesus would approve of our words and attitude. We all hold power to make a difference in this world. Our negative words and actions can scare some people away from Christianity. Some people are looking for an excuse to cut down our faith, and we do not want to give them a reason to look down on Christians. Lastly, I pray that we do not let others use their words to lead us astray or lower our self-esteem. Tonight spend some time examining how you speak to yourself and others. Do you speak in a calm and welcoming tone, use kind words and think before you speak? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your words and help you speak as a Christian. Tomorrow let us carefully choose our words. Words can change lives for better or worse.