Today, Jan and I were lying in bed in the early morning darkness having a conversation. During our conversation, we heard a voice speak to us from somewhere in our bedroom. It was Siri, the robotic voice on Jan’s iPhone. Siri said, “Hmm…I don’t know what that means.” We both broke out laughing realizing Siri was monitoring our private conversation. 

I have come to realize everything we say is always heard somewhere by someone. From our most innocent and our not so innocent conversations each one is heard and each one sets in motion an outcome. While the Siri comment started our morning off with laughter, some things spoken in what we consider a private place are not so kind. Privacy gives our undisciplined conversations a place to display the ugliest depths of our soul. These conversations can also produce and unknowingly welcome an undesirable consequence we were unaware of when we uttered their content.

Jan and I have tried to monitor the tone and content of what we say about people in our private conversations. We don’t always do a good job, but we are trying. It is not that we cannot have an honest opinion about something. It simply means that honor and verifiable truth must drive our conversations and even then, some things are best not said.

God hears everything, whether something is spoken in the privacy of a bedroom or in the well-lit public square. Our words really matter because they express the condition of our heart. God has appointments and alignments He wants to bring our way that will only come if He knows He can trust the sound of our voice. Changing the content of our conversations to reflect the heart of God takes effort and discipline.  Over time, that effort and discipline will change the content of what we speak. God will then able to trust us to more accurately represent Him wherever the sound of our voice is heard.