Watch your thoughts; they become words
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become your habits.
Watch your habits; they become your character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

~ Frank Outlaw

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I learned a little song when I was in Sunday School that went something like this:

Be careful what you say, little mouth,
Be careful what you say, little mouth
For the Father up above,
Is looking down in love
Be careful what you say, little mouth!

There were other verses like being careful what you hear little ears, what you do, little hands and where you go, little feet. As simple as that song is, there is great knowledge in it, especially when it comes to the words of our mouth.

Do you like where you are in life right now? Are you happy with the way things are going? Or do you wish you could be living in a better place in your finances? Health? Relationships? Employment?

God has a lot to say in the Bible about the words of our mouth – our confession (or profession). He states more than once about the fact that we will reap what we sow (get what we say), that we will “eat our words” or will manifest what we believe in our heart, which is what comes out of our mouth.

All I have to do is think back on things that have happened in my life both serious and silly. One example is about a car. I had a 1973 Mercury Monterey. Mind you, it drove like a dream and ran like a charm BUT it was a HUGE 4-door lead sled and I was a young woman who wanted a sports car.

I hated being seen in that monster car. I said many, many times (mostly as a joke), “Man, I wouldn’t even care if it needed work, I just wish I had a sports car instead of this monstrosity!”

Guess what? A couple of years later, I purchased a sports car, a bright yellow 1979 T-Top Camaro Z28. I loved that car! Can you guess? It started out a great car.  It ended up having all sorts of problems with it. Problems that didn’t even make sense. Things happening that never should have.

So imagine how I felt when a few years later God began to deal with me about being careful about the words of my mouth and showed me the importance of my words with that car as a reminder.  Back when I was making that bad statement, I thought I was so funny, joking about a sports car with problems.  I wasn’t.  I was putting spiritual law into effect.

The Bible states in Proverbs 18:21: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (NIV) – or “…those who indulge it must eat the fruit it yields” (NJB). I sure ate the fruit of that line about not caring if a car needed work as long as it was a sports car.  Ugh!

There are also far more serious things He pointed out to me. I will give your the latest example. Awhile back, several months ago, a newborn calf died. We have no idea why. I remember asking my husband, “What caused that? Why did it happen?”

He carelessly said, “That’s just the nature of raising cattle. These things will happen. Calves can die.”  I did not catch that at the time, and neither did he.

A couple of weeks ago, we highly anticipated two calf births from a special line of cattle. One was born on a day my husband was out of town. He came home the next day. He saw the calf, came in and greeted me. When he went back outside, the calf had died. Just like that. Two days later, the other calf was born. My husband worked with him to help him live. Kept him warm, bottle fed him. Again, Leland went out the next morning and that calf was dead, too. No obvious reason.

When we prayed and asked God what happened, especially since the Bible states that as a blessed people, our cattle will not have this happen – guess what God reminded us of? Guess what He pointed out that we’d said and agreed with?  Cattle die for no reason. It was not said lightly, it had been stated as a fact, as a belief.  In the world-system (“life’s way” “the way everyone operates”), cattle will die for no reason.  God says in the Bible that in His system (His way of doing things), they don’t – they are blessed cattle.

You can bet your sweet bippy that we both repented of those careless words and  immediately began confessing the scriptures again from Exodus and Deuteronomy about not losing calves! We’ve made a point of raising our cattle God’s way – and they are blessed and healthy, beautiful and peaceful – even that 2400 pound spoiled rotten bull.

The truth is – and if you are honest with yourself – you can trace back everything that has gone wrong in your life to what you believe, what you’ve done or not done, and what you’ve SAID.  Have you ever heard a parent say about a small child, “Oh he’s just a picky eater. He just won’t eat vegetables.” Or what about those “terrible two’s”?  I’d learned about our words just in time – I never spoke that over my son – guess what? He never had those terrible two’s.

Want more? “I must be getting old. I’m losing my mind! Ha ha” (or you tell all these “getting old” jokes). Take “No matter what diet I try I just can’t seem to lose weight.” “Yeah, cancer runs in our family. I’ll probably get it, too.” How many times have you sneezed and said, “I must be getting a cold!”  Or felt queasy in your stomach and said, “I have the flu!” My mom stopped staying those words and never again had a cold or flu – for over 20 years. One man I know stopped saying he was allergic to poison ivy. It took a little time, but eventually he stopped having an allergic reaction.

No, no, don’t get upset with me – it’s a scriptural fact, a spiritual law.  GOD said it, not me. You live Proverbs 18:21 – death and life are in what we speak. You have a choice of “blessing and cursing” and the choice is yours (Deut. 30:19).

Take it up with God but I can tell you that if you will change your words, you WILL change your life. Do you know bees don’t sting me? They haven’t stung me in 35 years, even standing in the middle of a bunch of them flying around. Guess why? I say that all the time, “Bees don’t sting me” and they don’t. It’s not me; I’m not special – it’s that spiritual law.

Ask God to show you things you said carelessly. Things you don’t recall saying. Be prepared. There are things we set in motion years before it manifests. Watching the words of our mouth is a lifetime commitment. It is something you have to stay on top of.

I heard a minister say one time, “If you don’t want it in your life, don’t say it.” I believe he was the same one who said that most of our problems are one inch under our noses. And “If you want the dog, don’t call the cat.”

DON’T SAY WHAT YOU DON’T WANT. SAY WHAT YOU DO.