Halitosis Ephesians 4:29 (MSG) Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. I read somewhere the words Verbal Halitosis. It got my attention seeing that Halitosis translates to bad breath. Being a dental assistant I work with mouths all day everyday and bad breath is part of it all. It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it. See halitosis, or bad breath as we all know it by, happens when we have poor dental health habits or it can be a sign of other health problems. It can also be made worse by some of the foods we eat and unhealthy lifestyle habits we may have. The foods we eat begin to breakdown in the mouth and as food is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream it is eventually carried out to the lungs and given off in our breath. If we consume foods with strong odors such as garlic and/or onions we may be able to cover up the smell with brushing, flossing and mouthwash but the odor won’t go away completely until those foods make their way out of our system. So enough about the nutrition and physiology talk. Where am I going with this?! Patience my friend… I am getting there. Ephesians 4:29 says …let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth… Foul, dirty, unhealthful, harmful, evil, toxic, offensive, unwholesome and decayed; all these words have similar meanings, right? My favorite of these is decayed (again going back to the whole dental thing), and decayed equals rotten. Let no rotten words come out of your mouth. Now I see the connection to Verbal Halitosis. Rotten words… decayed words… evil words. What words are coming out of your mouth? Don’t bother answering that question right away, just think about it for a minute. Let the question sink into your brain. You see the words we speak have power. God’s words have power. Think about it. He spoke and things came into existence. We were made in his likeness therefore our words have power too; power to build people up and tear them down as well. What are we saying?! If we were to replay the conversations we’ve had today or in the last few days, what would we be hearing? Words spoken in anger or maybe words said under stress? Sarcasm? Complaints? The verse begins with “Watch the way you talk.” It’s calling us to think before we speak. It doesn’t take long for words to come shooting out of our mouths but the damage they cause can last a lifetime. This takes me to another two words… Spiritual Halitosis. We can only deliver what has been deposited in us. What spiritual hygiene habits have you formed or are you forming? What are you consuming and how is your mind digesting it all? Are you eating your daily portion of the word? Are you brushing up on your prayer? And what are you doing to eliminate the odor of hate, resentment, anger, jealousy and revenge? We can’t simply cover up the stench with just showing up to church Sabbath after Sabbath or by doing a good deed here and there. Our words can only have a sweet aroma if we allow God to take control of lives and allow him to remove all the impurities that are sitting in our bodies. “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.” Ephesians 4:29 (MSG) -Karen Tatiana
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 05:23:21 +0000
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