Over 50 million user of snapchat had a huge awakening when they woke to the morning news and learned that their private photos may not be so private after all. Snapchat is the phone app which allows you to take a photo, share it, and within a set amount of time if vanishes – POOF! Just as if it never existed. No accountability, no repercussions, not a single trace of evidence left!
Au contraire mon frere…
The wakeup call for thousands of users was that their photos had re-surfaced like a Russian spy sub! Careless, unthinkable, and unimaginable photos where now exploited across the internet for all to see!
Oh the nightmare, oh the shame, oh the conversation and explanations that happened all over the world on that day!
I’ve been known to treat my words like I’m using a snapchat app. I speak them and POOF! They’re gone. I mean, seriously, when raising teenagers it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to believe that whatever is being said is actually floating off in to deep space and never reaching their sweet ears!
The thoughtless words we say to our spouse, children, significant other, and friends leave footprints. The conversations we share on the phone, about the story we heard at church, about the person who…, or the rumors we share with our co-workers in the latest office saga all have tracers. We speak words without any thought, because speak as though they vanish.
But there is coming a day, just like the users of snapchat, where ALL of our careless words will resurface.
And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgement day for every careless word you speak. Matthew 12:37
There’s going to be some interesting conversations relived one day… How sobering is that? I must admit I’ve treated that scripture like the privacy notice that I have clicked I understood and agreed to, but I don’t live my life as though I payed very close attention to it.
On snapchat, the privacy notice never fully guaranteed their privacy, but their user shared as if they had full anonymity. Oh, how I’ve spilled my words as though they fall under some elusive privacy policy banking they’d never resurface and hoping they’d vanish like a snapchat app. But our words don’t work like that. They linger in the heart and spirit of the one they’ve been sent to.
The snapchat user has the ability to hold on to a photo. Once they become the possessor of the photo they can now do whatever they choose with that picture.
And so it goes with our words. The receiver of our words can harbor them, share them, misrepresent them, and even exploit them because once our words are spoken the receiver is now the controller. They can become offended, wounded, and even deceived once we’ve released them. The only power we hold is the power to form our words wisely before they’re spoken.
The formation of words begin with emotion. Our emotions begin in our heart. What we dwell, meditate, and ponder on form the words in our mind represent the emotions we harbor in our heart.
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Luke 6:45
In today’s world, it’s easy to believe the worst in people and so much more difficult to believe the best. It’s easier to think thoughts of despair instead of thoughts of hope, and it’s effortless to accept misfortune instead of fortune. Because it’s so easy, we must be all the more intentional about what we think about, and take authority over the things harbored in our hearts.
I can admit, I don’t always realize I’m floating in a raging sea of negativity, until the Holy Spirit awakens me and I examine the words coming out of my mouth. They often reflect the stormy seas of my soul. Our God is a God of goodness and mercy. He is Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. When my eyes are resting upon God’s character and His word, the daily crazies of my life have a silver lining. I can find the hope in despair, the good in people, and the best in life’s difficult situations. Then, I can be confident that what I speak will not be careless but profitable!
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Beth,
I’m over here secretly nodding; me too, me too. Like Toothpast squeezed out of a tube -our words can’t get taken back. And you are right that “the power we hold is to form our words wisely before we speak”. (I just need to wear a rubber band around my wrist about this one. Out of the mouth the heart speaks, I must be diligent to guard my heart!
Great word today friend, Thank you!
Oh Brandi, I cannot tell you how many times I wish I could suck my words right back into my mouth as they have been released. My spiritual mom always asks if I need a new roll of pink duct tape!
Such a great post. I’ve read this twice now. 🙂
Thanks Dianna!
I like the correlation you made between the app and the act. It is a great reminder to us all to choose our words carefully and wisely as you said. Thanks for sharing! #bloggercaregroup
Thanks Kelly for stopping by from the blogger care group!
We recently got caught into the snapchat app with our three kids who are all living in different countries so I was thinking this is exactly right as I read through this tonight. Dropping in from #bloggercaregroup
Thanks for stopping by Sandra!