It may be your mouth, but you can’t really “say what you want to”. . . I can’t believe I just referenced a Miley Cyrus song, but here we are.

I suppose that, yes, technically you can say what you want if you have no regard for how your words make other people feel, or what they say about you. But, there’s always collateral damage, and yes, that should matter.

My words, when they’re just mine, are fallen. They drip with sarcasm, disdain, and (sometimes) malice. They can infuriate, frustrate, and hurt with little regard to what lies in their wake. My words, when they’re just mine, are fallen because I am fallen.

I’m fallen when I forget that I live in the shadow the cross of Christ, redeemed fully by his resurrected body.
I’m fallen when I seek my own way instead of following hard after the way God sets before me.
I’m fallen when I regard myself more highly than others.
I’m fallen when I disregard the sacrifice made oh my behalf and in my stead.

. . .

I’m fallen a lot.

I’d like to say that it doesn’t take much for me to remember that I’m redeemed. I’d like to say that I live like I know whose I am. . .but I can’t.

Sometimes it takes a sucker punch to wake me up. A sucker punch that says, “hey. You’re a jerk. But you don’t have to be a jerk. Jesus died so you wouldn’t have to be a jerk anymore”. And, true story, when I think, act, and live like I’ve been bought at an immeasurable cost, my words aren’t just my words. They’re not fallen words. They’re not callow. . .they’re redeemed.