Watch What You Say – The Seventh Commandment

Watch What You Say

Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18

“You shall not commit adultery.”

Ephesians 5:4, 5

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Your speech betrays your heart.

The story is told of General Robert E. Lee who was standing around a camp fire with his senior officers, when a young officer joined the circle. Sticking his head in and looking around, the young man is reported to have said, “I have a dandy story to tell, but I want to make sure there aren’t any women in the group.” Whereupon the General replied, “Sir, may I remind you that there are gentlemen in the group?” The “dandy story” was not told. How often are we guilty of sitting by in silence while crude joking and filthy talk swirl around us like so much poisonous air? How often have we passed along a “dandy story,” even though we knew it was a little “off-color,” because we thought it would get a laugh? What you talk about reveals what’s in your heart (Matt. 12.34). The willingness to tolerate crude speech and even to engage in it ourselves may reveal a lingering darkness in our souls, a room of rebellion not yet yielded to the Lord. Paul moves easily from filthy speech and crude joking to sexual immorality and impurity, and from there, to being locked out of the Kingdom of Christ and God. How serious is God about stamping out adultery in all its forms? It begins in the heart, and it demands attention even in the kind of speech we tolerate and practice.

Do the conversation habits of your friends or colleagues offer you any opportunities to take a stand against adultery?

—

“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.