It was one of those particularly chaotic days at work, when everything hits you all at once, and your very last nerve has been worn…nay, trampled upon.  To make matters worse, I hadn’t spent any time with the Lord in His Word or in prayer that day, so my spiritual radar was particularly out of sync.

It just happened. I was typing an email to a friend and out came a barrage of totally unnecessary complaining and sarcasm that had nothing to do with my email.   I like to call that “verbal vomit”, except in this case it wasn’t spoken, it was typed.  And sometimes that can be FAR worse.

God convicted me almost right away, (after the email was already sent, of course).  As righteous as I’d like to think I am, my mouth (or fingers) often proves me wrong.  I’m sure I’m not the only one out there with this issue!

At one point in Jesus’ ministry He was interacting with some ultra-religious types, the Pharisees.  These guys often presented themselves as the most religiously “right” people in their culture.  If you wanted to really be considered spiritual, you tried to mimic these guys.  Problem was, Jesus wasn’t impressed.  He says this to them in Matthew 12:

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.  You brood of vipers!  How can you speak good, when you are evil?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ..I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  (Matthew 12:33, 37 – ESV)

Now, granted, the Pharisees had just gotten done accusing Jesus of performing miracles by the power of the Devil (they viewed Him as a blasphemous sorcerer).  So, Jesus’s words are particularly strong against them.

But, the principle applies to all of us – “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”.  If you’re dwelling on angry, sarcastic, self-entitled, self-righteous, bitter thoughts…your words (typed OR spoken) are going to betray you… you can count on it!  (Look at James 3 for more painfully honest teaching about our tongues).

Paul the Apostle was also a pastor.  He pastored a large number of growing baby Christians who were all trying to figure out what it meant to “live out” their faith in Jesus.  In his letter to the Colossian Christ-followers he writes:

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on therefore compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  (Colossians 3:12-17, ESV)

The best way to avoid the mess of verbal vomit, is to avoid vomiting.  The best way to avoid verbally vomiting, is to avoid spiritual upset stomach.  The best way to avoid spiritual upset stomach?  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”.   It’s a deliberate choice we make.  Paul says that we must “put on” compassion and humility and patience, and all that good stuff.   We must make a conscious choice to reject the constant bombardment of negativity, and let the Word of God speak truth and life into our hearts.

This will (and should) not only affect the actual words you speak, but the types of things you text to friends, you post on your facebook profile, you “tweet” to your loyal followers on Twitter…you get the picture.

Remember, if you want your words to be a blessing to others and to give life (and they literally can!), you’ve got to control what’s digesting in your heart.  I recommend memorizing Scripture for this, or even a favorite song or hymn.  Something that, when confronted with the inevitable temptation to stew in negativity, will push your thoughts and affections back on Jesus.  If you train your mind and heart to focus on him when it’s difficult, your life can be a transforming spring of life-giving spiritual water, which is way, way, WAY better than vomit.