Our Words Reveal Our Hearts – Part 1 – Understanding the Power of the Tongue and the Grace of Jesus
In this three-part series, we will examine what our words reveal about our hearts, how our tongues can dishonor God, and the grace of Jesus that transforms our speech.
What Our Words Reveal
Have you ever wished you could take back something you said? Most of us have. A careless comment, a sharp reply, or a whispered rumor can leave wounds that last for years. Our words have tremendous power—for good or for harm.
When you visit a doctor, one of the simplest requests they might make is, “Let me see your tongue.” It’s a small act, but it can reveal a great deal about your physical health.
Scripture says the same about our spiritual health. Our words reveal our hearts. Jesus put it plainly: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matthew 12:34).
Our words are windows into the soul.
What comes out of our mouths reveals what is happening inside our hearts. That’s why the Bible speaks so often about the tongue—not merely to improve our speech, but to transform our hearts.
This truth appears throughout Scripture. David asked a searching question in Psalm 15: “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy mountain?” Part of the answer is this: one “whose tongue utters no slander… and casts no slur on others.”
That standard is harder to keep than it sounds.
Consider the grocery store clerk who grumbled to his manager, “There’s a crazy lady back there wanting half a head of lettuce.” Then, noticing she was right behind him, he quickly added, “and this nice lady wants the other half!” Quick, clever—and not quite honest.
The world may applaud that kind of speech. God doesn’t.
If we’re honest, this is an area where every one of us struggles. James says it plainly: “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect” (James 3:2). None of us meets that standard on our own.
There’s an old saying that the tongue is in a wet place—it’s always ready to slip. That’s why our words so easily slide into sin before we even catch them.
Before we celebrate God’s remedy, we first need to take an honest look at the problem.
Let’s begin by looking at eight common sins of the tongue that expose what is often hidden in our hearts.
The Crimes of the Tongue
1. The Tongue Lies
Our culture excuses it—“A little lie won’t hurt.” God never does. Proverbs 6 lists a lying tongue among the things the Lord detests.
Lies rarely remain small. A tiny deception here, a half-truth there, and before long trust begins to crumble.
The first recorded sin in the early church was exactly this. Ananias and Sapphira lied about a financial gift and paid dearly for their deception (Acts 5:1-11).
But there is hope: Lying belongs to our old self. Through Christ and by the power of his Spirit, believers are called to “put off falsehood and speak truth” (Colossians 3:9-10).
2. The Tongue Gossips and Slanders
Solomon says the appeal of gossip this way: “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8). The Good News Translation paraphrases it as “Gossip is so tasty! How we love to swallow it!” In other words, gossip tastes sweet going down—until we’re the ones being consumed by it.
The seriousness of this sin is seen in the fact that Solomon repeats this warning almost word for word: “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts” (Proverbs 26:22). Few things are repeated in Scripture without purpose. The repetition reminds us that gossip is not a small matter—it is a destructive sin that deeply affects both individuals and relationships.
There’s an old story of a monk who confessed to gossiping about a fellow brother. His superior told him to take a bag of feathers to the top of a hill, release them into the wind, and then gather every feather back again.
“That’s impossible,” the monk replied.
“So is undoing the damage of your words,” the superior said.
Gossip leaves a trail of destruction. It harms three people: it wounds the person being spoken about, corrupts the one speaking, and poisons the one listening. Proverbs 26:20 reminds us, “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies.”
3. The Tongue Boasts
Boasting glorifies self instead of God. It draws attention to our achievements, abilities, and status while forgetting the One who gave them to us.
Remember Nebuchadnezzar, who looked over mighty Babylon and declared, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built?” But God humbled him, and he was driven to live like an animal until he acknowledged the sovereignty of the Most High (Daniel 4).
Scripture gives us a better way: “Let the one who boasts boast in the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24). True humility recognizes that everything we have and everything we accomplish comes from God.
4. The Tongue Wounds
We’ve all heard the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But it’s simply not true.
Words can wound deeply. Proverbs 12:18 says, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” A careless word can cut deeply, leaving wounds that are not always visible.
And once words are spoken, they cannot be taken back—like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. A tongue that wounds reveals a heart in need of God’s grace; a tongue that heals reflects a heart transformed by him.
The first four crimes of the tongue reveal something uncomfortable: our words often expose attitudes and desires we would rather hide. But the problem goes deeper than occasional mistakes or careless phrases. Our words reveal what is happening within our hearts.
And there are still more ways our tongues can lead us astray. In the next Part, we will look at four more crimes of the tongue—and discover why the answer must go deeper than simply trying to speak better.