Paul had a handful of enemies at Corinth.  These false brethren accused Paul of many things, challenging even the motive behind his words.  Paul addressed this by writing, “ Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ…” (2 Corinthians 12:19).   When Paul spoke or wrote, his motives were pure and his words true.  He made sure of this because he realized that he was always speaking before God.

As Christians, this is the way we should always speak.  We should know what the Psalmist knew—all our words are known of God.  

Psalm 139:4 (ESV)
⁴  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

Whenever you are talking to brethren, be sensitive about their feelings.  It is easy to offend one another without realizing that we are doing it.  The times we do this can be minimized by making a habit of being kind when we talk.  Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).  We need to pay special attention to the way we talk to others because a slip of the tongue can happen so quickly, and, as I stated, sometimes without realization.  No wonder James said that the tongue cannot be tamed (James 3:7-8).  One thing that will help us is being mindful that every time we speak, we are speaking before God.  Such mindfulness will cause us to be more careful about how we speak to others.

We should also be careful about how we talk about others.  The Bible is clear about God’s displeasure of backbiting, gossiping, and being a busybody.  When Aaron and Miriam spoke poorly of Moses behind his back, God got involved.

Numbers 12:9-10 (ESV)
⁹  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed. ¹⁰  When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

While Moses probably would have never known about this backbiting engaged in by Aaron and Miriam, they forgot that they were speaking before a God who hears everything, and one thing He hates is one slandering another.

Psalm 101:5 (NASB)
⁵  Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy…

No, God will not strike us with leprosy like He did Miriam, but the truth is, punishment for unrepented misuse of the tongue will be worse.  Jesus said we will have to give an account on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36).  Do not forget that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

In Christ, we should behave ourselves well.  This includes speaking wisely and being careful of how we speak to and about others.  This is easier when we remember what Paul did when he spoke or wrote—we are always speaking before God.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.