The temptation for all of us is to speak for the sake of hearing our own opinions. The danger has grown to catastrophic proportions with the advent of social media, internet forums and self-aggrandizing blogs, vlogs and chats. No one really needs to have anything of value to add, they just need access. And access we have in plenty. But what is worse is that there is access with no accountability, no sense of responsibility to consider the consequences of our words. And beloved understand this truth, words have consequences! The power of life and death are in the tongue, and we have forgotten that our words have power to heal, to wound, to kill. The responsibility of the child of God is to speak the truth in love, in other words, to guard our tongues, our mouths, the fruit of our lips. Those who forsake the truth will indeed feed on violence - violence done to another, violence done to the innocent, violence done even against our own persons... Because our words are not empty ethereal things, they have power and they have weight. Words convey ideas, they convey vision, they convey life altering perspective. Either for good or for ill… there is no way for us to live without words, but we MUST be careful of the things we say, we MUST be intentional to guard our words, to not simply spew out venom because we can, or because we think we have the right to say whatever we want to say. While we are free to speak as we wish, we also must remember that we will one day be held accountable for every word we say… guard your mouth, oh beloved child, and preserve your life!!