::my words::part two::

Secondly, the spoken word {my tongue}.

I have this verse jotted on a card and tacked to my cork board. It says, "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ..." Philippians 1:27. If we were to apply that verse to every conversation we had {best friend, boyfriend, brother, sister, parents, husband} plus applying all the other verses on the tongue that teach us not to slander, gossip, etc...what would we talk about? Really. What would our conversations be filled with?

I don't know how super-duper open I've been about this on my blog, but I don't really have a best, best, best-ever girlfriend. The kind I can chat with for an hour, pick up the phone and decide to go somewhere instanteously or share my heart with. And I really, really miss having one. My best friend and I from hs have gone different directions.  Of course, she's still a Christian but we just have completely different life paths, different friends, different locations.  So many friends from college I have lost contact with.  Many have gotten married {different goals!}.  Some just don't "do" long-distance friendships.  And, we change.  I'm not sitting here bemoaning this fact.  I have friends...I do...but not a "heart" friend. And I miss that so much. But I know not having a "heart/soul friend" is God's way of teaching me some things. Among the lessons I have been learning is what I say with my tongue. I have come to the realization that I talk too much. **shocker, I know!**  Girls definitely have the gift of gab! :) But if my conversation is to be centered around the gospel of Christ, that limits a lot of unneccessary talk that girls do and which often leads to gossip and slander. I'm not saying it's wrong to talk about nail polish, facials, make-up, shopping, and sales but I don't think that's the *only* thing that we talk about.

If our conversation is centered around the gospel of Christ then I think we'll do a lot more talking about Scripture, souls, missions, ministries, how to be a blessing, etc.

All this to say, that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." {Proverbs 18:21} I am praying that my tongue is not death, but life!