There Is No Free Speech

   Have you noticed how many people are getting in trouble for things they said?  The modern media has become an attacking watchdog for what people say.  If you slip up and say something that doesn't fit into the current thinking, be prepared to face the consequences.  Sports stars, celebrity cooks, politicians, clothing designers, radio hosts, and comedians have all recently been vilified for their comments.  For a country with a founding principle of free speech, it seems we like making people pay when they say something they shouldn't. 

   Freedom to speak does not however mean freedom from the consequences of speech.  We may have a legal right to say what we want but that doesn't mean our speech will not cost us.  Jesus told us in Matthew 12:36-37, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  In reality there is no free speech, every word comes at a cost!

   I don’t know about you but that concept frightens me.  Try and think back to all you have said yesterday. Do you even remember what every conversation was about?  Those words will however be recorded and we will have to justify their use.  Think how easy it is to casually vent our frustration at that bad driver (James 3:9-10) or make the derogatory joke (Proverbs 26:18-19).  Those words, no matter how fleeting we may have thought they were, have eternal consequences.

   As eye opening as it is to think about our words condemning us, we also need to focus on what else Jesus said, our words justifying us.  It not just what we said but what we have not said as well.  Did we tell others about faith in Jesus (Matthew 10:32)?  Have we said encouraging words to the brethren (Ephesians 4:29)?  Do we consider how our conversions with outsiders could be used to help them come to know Christ (Colossians 4:5-6)?  Do our words show us to be one of His?

   Words matter.  Your speech will have cost.

Are we wasting our words or using them to invest in our heavenly home?