Do you know people who always have something to say regardless of what your conversation is? People who are ready to criticize or brag, depending on the topic of your conversation? People who think they know more than the experts who do the things daily? I’ve been around several of those people in my life. I’ve known that all they were telling me was not so. They just loved to gab and try to make themselves feel important. Often the haste to speak is to cover ourselves so people don’t find out the real me. Words say a lot about the condition of our hearts. You learn a lot about a person by listening to the words of their conversation. (Psalm 34:13-14 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.) Our words are expressions of our hearts—of what’s going on inside us. If we want to know who a person really is, all we need to do is listen to their words. If we listen long enough, we learn a lot about them. I can learn a lot about my own mindset each day by listening to my responses in the conversations I’m in. I can tell when I’ve allowed myself to become negative about things going on around me. I can tell when I’ve let myself begin to direct my steps instead of following my Leader. No wonder David said to “let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord.” The battle is not easy, but we can win the battle over our words by making an effort each day to let God be our director. God can take the most negative, critical, complaining tongue and make it a positive, content, and praising tongue. What you say says a lot about yourself! Keep your words from evil and your lips from speaking lies today. You will see your conversations change instantly and your influences start to grow. Pastor Don