But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Matthew 12:36-37 KJV
We shall be justified by our words. That means that God declares us righteous by the things we say.
Jesus said in Luke 6:45a, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good…” Yet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David said, “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:3b) And in Mark 10:18, Jesus said, “…Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
So if God is the only one who is good, the rest of us are evil, yet we can be justified (or declared righteous) by our words. How is that possible?
II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Once you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit of God moves into your life and you become a new creature. God is good, and He now lives within you. So as you learn to walk in the Spirit, you allow God’s Word to influence your every step.
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Jesus said in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
God’s Word makes us clean. Immerse yourself in God’s Word. It will cleanse and purify your heart.
Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
The word idle means ineffective, worthless, or vain.
In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Jesus is saying that an evil person cannot speak good things because whatever is in the heart will come out of the mouth.
He said in Luke 6:45b “…an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil…”
On Judgment Day, we will give an account for every worthless or vain word that we’ve spoken. And those words will either justify us or condemn us.
James 5:12 says, “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”
In other words, mean what you say, and say what you mean. Don’t add unnecessary adjectives or assurances.
If you know Christ as Savior, you already have the Spirit of a good God dwelling within you. Fill your mind with His Word and let it saturate your heart because “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.”