Jesus calls us to faithfulness and to an honest seeking first of His kingdom and righteousness. He has not called us to be good listeners only. He has called us to hear His Word and to do it. He hasn’t called us to just say right things. He has called us to right action, action endorsed by the truthfulness and integrity of our words.

Words are a dime a dozen these days; the internet has seen to that. Yet, it ought not to be this with followers of Christ. For us, our words matter. Words reflect the heart, and words hastily spoken can sometimes do irrevocable damage.

More than words, Jesus calls us to obedience. Words should reflect the fact that our hearts are being shaped and formed into the image of Christ. Our actions then follow our words and reveal what we are really like. Keeping our words tells those around us that truth matters to us, that righteousness matters, that Christ-formed integrity matters. Our words and our actions meet in Jesus, and both of them reflect what we really believe about Him

The greatest action is the action of self-forgetful love. Jesus didn’t say that people would know we are his disciples if we say wonderful things. He said they would know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. Words are wonderful and we ought to be very careful as to the words we say. Love is greater still.

Isn’t it the Bible that says, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy going or a clanging cymbal” (I Cor. 13:1)? Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matt. 7:21).