When I was little I had a tape (a tape!) of some jungle animals singing scripture songs. (Does anyone remember that? I don’t know what it’s called!) Anyway, one of the songs was Psalm 34:13 and it went like this, “Kkkkkeep thy tongue from evil! Psalm 34: thirteeeeen.” Well, I guess it doesn’t transfer well through the written word! The point is, I have always remembered this verse. So, when we got to letter K, this is the verse I picked!
Speaking evil is different at different ages. For a teenager or adult, it might be an actual curse word. It might be gossip. For a kid it might be whining or complaining about a sibling. This verse is a reminder to keep words of life on our lips–not negative, bad words. And I think, most of the time, when it comes to the way our kids talk–this is one of those things that is CAUGHT and not TAUGHT. As parents, we need to be careful about what we say and how we say it. It reminds me of another verse I learned as a child…and still say to myself today:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
