by: Destinee Payne
There are things we can do to guard ourselves against speaking with iniquity. Our tongue is compared to forest fire and deadly poison in James 3. We need to be in the habit of professing God’s word and having reverence in our speech to guard against speaking with iniquity. We need to profess our Jesus on our lips. We need to be in the habit of telling of the great things God has done and giving Him the glory.
Proverbs 25:11 states “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” I love this verse! I can just imagine a setting of a beautiful apple orchard where all the trees are silver, the ground is silver, and the sky is silver. There on the trees are beautiful golden apples that stand out perfectly! How beautiful is it for a young woman to speak of her precious Creator.
Younger girls, as well as women, feel it is cheesy or corny to talk about God and praise Him with joy. It’s almost uncomfortable to express our faithfulness to God in daily conversation. This isn’t just with non-believers, it is even among fellow believers. I ask those of you who are older to encourage younger women by speaking about God with them. Ask them what they have seen God doing in their lives. Tell them what you have seen God doing in yours. Praise Him together.
I challenge you younger women to express praise to God verbally. If you’re having a great day, say it with your lips, “God is good!” We might often think that, but saying it is much more forward. Aren’t we scared of that? Read scripture out loud. Praise God by reading the Psalms of David. David was not ashamed, and he spoke often of praising his God. Psalms 9:1 says “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” This should be the song of our own lips. There are many other verses like this in Psalms. I challenge you to go to a quiet place and proclaim them out loud.
If we push ourselves to be in the habit of praising God with our lips and sharing our reverence for His holiness with others, we guard ourselves
against speaking out of place. We are not perfect and will not always be successful. However, I believe that if we have apples of gold constantly on our lips, it makes it very difficult for the worm to find its way in.
Ask yourself, “How often do I speak of my Jesus?” It’s easy to talk about the things we love like our friends, our hobbies, or other things. If we love Jesus so much, shouldn’t we be talking about Him? How often do you converse with others about your Creator? I challenge you as I challenge myself to use our tongues, not to start fires, but to praise our God.
Shine! 