Having integrity includes how we use our words. If we wouldn’t say something because a parent, friend, or Jesus himself was standing next to us, then we probably shouldn’t be saying it at all. God’s always with us and He knows every word we’ve ever said and will ever say. He even knows the words we don’t say – the ones we think. Jesus declared: ‘What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs’ (Luke 12:3 NIV). He knows everything about us and there’s undoubtedly at least a few words we’ve thought or said that we’d hate to be brought into the light. In Psalm 139 it says ‘before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely’ (v.4 NIV). The word ‘completely’ suggests that He doesn’t just know the word, but the meaning behind it, the motive with which we said it and its sincerity. The thought of God knowing everything about us can seem pretty daunting. It can feel like He’s just sat there writing down all of our mistakes and there’s nothing we can do about it. But that’s not the case at all. God shows us where we’re going wrong so we can change it. And He knows we’re never going to be perfect, we’re human. Instead of being disappointed in us when our words don’t match up to His best, He’s there encouraging us to do it differently next time around, encouraging us to say and think godly words. ‘The lips of the godly speak helpful words’. Let’s aspire to that.

What now?
In every conversation you have and everything you write today, imagine Jesus physically standing next to you. See how it changes the words you decide to use.