Proverbs 4:24 KJV
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Perverse - Strong's 3891 - "lazuth"; devious
Froward - Strong's 6143 - "iqqeshuth"; deceitful
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Proverbs 10:32 KJV
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked frowardness.
Frowardness - Strong's 8419 - "taphukah"; perverse thing
According to Google, synonyms of "perverse" include contrary, obstructive, and wrong. An older definition traces back to the Latin pervertere, later perversus meaning "turned around" and later became, in Late Middle English, "perverse," meaning "turned away from what is right or good."
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Matthew 12:36 KJV
(Yahshua speaking)
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Idle - Strong's 692 - "argos"; lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable, injurious
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So basically don't be devious, deceitful, contrary, obstructive, wrong, lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable, or injurious in speech.
That's not too hard, right?
It requires lots and lots of diligence and we are warned numerous times throughout scripture to beware our mouths and tongues as they are very difficult to control.
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my life's most difficult challenge. Let me put it to you straight, I've always been a talker. (And just to clarify, even a man of few words may have a problem with this depending on what few words he chooses).
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As a child, my mom would spank me pretty fearfully (I wasn't abused as a child, but praise Yah I was raised with discipline!) IF SHE CAUGHT ME LYING. I could get away with a lot of other things, but a lie, my dear...the Bible is pretty clear about.
As an adolescent, I had learned how to speak manipulatively - that is, without lying but with the intention to mislead. And it's so easy to do! Diligence and lots and lots and lots of self-discipline has helped me improve tremendously in this respect, though no man is perfect. I now try to correct the situation when I come across a pitfall. I make myself make it right and write it off as necessary humbling, because it isn't always easy to admit I messed up. It's not easy to admit to myself, let alone coming clean to Yah and whatever person was involved.
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As a small child, I made a kid cry once. With something I said. As a teenager, I tried to make people cry (if I didn't like them, of course and sometimes when I was feeling contrary). Even before coming to faith and truth, this was one of the first to go for me. Though anger can still sometimes be difficult to deal with, it didn't take a degree in rocket science to see what kind of destruction those kinds of words reaped - lost friendships, lost jobs, even divorces! (Praise Yah I never really took it past the losing a friend part, though a job may have hurt less long term)
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And then there is possibly the most harmful harmless of all - the idle word. Yes, that sneaky little bugger that slips from my mouth when trying to make conversation or fill awkward silences. The one that has no purpose but to fill gaps that aren't necessarily in need of being filled. Or perhaps to make up for not paying attention - like when another poor, word-afflicted soul took too long to tell me about something (maybe I was waiting on customers when they were talking?) and I absentmindedly reply with a "cool" or "oh yeah," maybe "totally?" And maybe I totally just second witnessed something that I KNOW BETTER but wasn't paying attention. We are taught pretty young that if you can't keep up, you ought to be ashamed. "Wing it and no one will ever know," the world feeds our egos to protect our pride. Or maybe I totally just oh yeahed someone into a divorce, or suicide, or agnosticism. I may never know, but Yah knows.
Recently, I experienced what I believe Yah used to teach me a valuable lesson. To protect the identity of others, this is a little vague but prayerfully the point remains intact...
I was talking to a friend about something I was going to fix the right way. The friend tried to talk me out of it, said it was easier to shortcut with a different method. But that method was expensive, dangerous, and not guaranteed to work. They argued that it was hard work my way. (I wouldn't deem it hard, though certainly not easy per se). They said I'd get my hands dirty. (I had gloves and antibacterial soap). Finally, in all confident surety they exclaimed, "But you'll have to ______ in order to do it and you could break it in the process!"
Aha, dear friend, this is something I have done before and _____ is not required. I looked at that friend a little differently, they still aren't sure that they spoke a lie, admitting only that I might be right. I looked at myself differently. How many times have I done the same thing? I may never know. Well, until it is time for me to account for those idle words (Matthew 12:36).
What's worse, what does this do to my witness? If I speak wrongly about something with surety, how does anyone know they can believe me when The Ruach (Spirit) uses me to speak right? How can an acquaintance even discern for sure that I have influence from The Ruach if I've been known to lie?
I've heard it argued that it isn't a lie if you didn't know it was wrong at the time. But if I'm speaking about something I have no knowledge or authority on, KNOWING I have no knowledge or authority, aren't I lying simply in action by speaking as though I do?
Deep stuff.
I doubt that anyone can ever get it right (Yahshua being The Only Obvious Beautiful Glorious Exception). But I also doubt that I will be thinking much of anyone else when Our Wonderful Creator, Mighty In Power asks me, trembling before Him, to explain myself.
