Our bodies are intricately designed masterpieces, pieced together with precision by the Master Craftsman and Creator! Scientists are still, in many ways, just scratching the surface of understanding the complexity of the human body. Among the myriads of design elements to intrigue the mind are the built-in filters that God put precisely where they were needed, including the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, the lungs, etc. Each filter has its own purpose and function.
There is one filter that may not receive the biological or anatomical attention that other filters receive, but it is, nonetheless, a God-given device which requires our attentiveness, especially as it relates to our Christian lives. The filter in mind here is the one between your thoughts and your words, or between your brain and your mouth. Believe it or not, God inserted a special filter there to perform a special function.
This filter is designed by God to determine which words exit the mouth and which words do not. Or, to say it another way, this filter is designed by God to determine which thoughts are formulated into words, and which thoughts are captured and controlled before they have an opportunity to be transformed into vocal utterances.
The question that each of us must consider is this: “Is your filter working?” Are your thoughts being captured before they become words? There are some life circumstances when we sometimes think that the filter can be disengaged. In the heat of an argument, sometimes we disengage our filter. While engrossed in an intense athletic contest (whether playing or watching), sometimes we turn off our filter. As the aging process takes its effect on the body and mind, sometimes we think that we’ve “lived long enough” or that our “age permits us a little latitude” or that we “need to say it while we can,” and so the filter is deactivated. But, regardless of the circumstances of life, God expects our filter to be properly activated and working.
When you get ready to speak, make sure that your thoughts run through God’s filter before they are converted into words. Are the words you’re about to say: kind (Eph. 4:32), humble (Rom. 12:3), truthful (Eph. 4:25), edifying (Eph. 4:29), gracious (Ecc. 10:12), helpful (Col. 4:6), repeatable (1 Tim. 5:13), positive (Phil. 2:14), courteous (1 Pet. 3:8), pleasant (Prov. 16:24), necessary (Jas. 1:19), pure (Matt. 5:8), commendable (Phil. 4:8), praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8), golden-ruled (Matt. 7:12) and Christ-like (Phil. 2:5)?
Yes, there is a filter that God has designed to stop the words before they exit our mouths. No, there is not any time in the life of a Christian when we can disengage that filter. May God help us to look like Jesus and sound like Jesus!