What are you words REALLY saying?

One of my favorite worship songs from a child is, "I Love You Lord."

The lyrics are:

"I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you, oh my soul rejoice.
Take joy my King, in what you hear.  May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear."

I thought of this song yesterday as my son woke up from his nap and was angry because Emma was already awake and snuggling with me.  Luke generally wakes first and gets alone time with me and he was less than happy about Emma winning the race yesterday.  He didn't know how to handle his frustrations and started spewing hurtful words towards Emma.

Which made me mad.

Emma is NEVER the child who forces herself on me.  She generally waits patiently until you are ready for her, and then she soaks up the attention that she gets for as long as she gets it.  Emma generally is very kind to her brothers and sister and although she has her moments of four year old human selfishness, she is a pretty amazing sister.  And there she sat, hearing horrible words come from her best friend's mouth pertaining to her.

I wanted to jump off that couch and yell at him (which would have been way effective, I know) but instead, I sent him to his room and told him that if he talked like that about someone in our family, he could not be part of what our family did for awhile.  He sat in there for awhile angry, and then he eventually came down and told Emma he was sorry for the words he said and that he loved her.

All was forgiven.

But our words are powerful.  Our words can tear people down, abuse people, crush someone's spirit.  Our words can breathe life to someone, build someone up, encourage someone's confidence.  I'm trying to teach my children that, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1  Kindness is so important.

But someone else, far more important than any human, hears all of our words...even all of our thoughts.  But our words...the ones that we mutter under our breath, the ones that we say when we are furious, the ones we think are said in secret, the ones that we think will be inconsequential.  God hears all of our words.  Every.  Single. One.

When I stop and think that every part of my life should glorify God, should bring Him joy, should be in worship to Him - I am humbled.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

Let's be honest, my words are not always glorifying to God...or even acceptable for that matter.  I don't cuss (usually) but I can sure be sharp tongued at times...with my kids, my husband, my mom.  My words are powerful and beyond that they are my life's worship to God.  What am I saying, really?  Are my words saying that I love the Lord with all my heart?  Are my words saying that I find great blessing in my children and my husband?  What am I really saying?  Or better yet, what is God really hearing?

^{Matthew 12:34-37}"You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."

What are your words really saying?  Do you think they are bringing a sweet sound to His ear?