If what you eat today is the fruit your mouth produced yesterday, will it be sweet and satisfying? Will you be full for the day or left with an unsatisfied empty space? “A person’s belly will be filled with the fruit of his mouth; with what his lips produce he will be filled.” (Proverbs 18:20) Does that thought make your mouth water with sweetness or are you eating from a lemon tree?

Our local school is teaching the, “Leader in Me/7 Habits,” curriculum: be proactive; begin with the end in mind; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergize–together is better; sharpen the saw–take care of yourself. Our school added an eighth habit: find your voice. I jokingly say my grandkids found their voices long ago. 

What does it mean to find your voice? Does it matter what your voice sounds like? God gave each of us a unique voice and the freedom to use it as we wish. However, we were also given warnings about how we use them. “To answer someone before hearing him out is both stupid and embarrassing.” (Proverbs 18:13) How often are you guilty of that? Many of us have a problem with patience–we can’t wait for the other person to finish talking–we interrupt and hijack the conversation.

“The tongue has power over life and death; those who indulge it must eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) We will do our youth a great injustice if we fail to stress the importance of the tongue behind the voice. The words we choose, the time we choose to use them, and the attitude we use them with, will all determine the fruit we eat. Is your face contorted from sucking on lemons? Find your voice in Christ–speak life!