"Your Speech Bewrayeth You"

In the King James Version of the Bible, with some of its archaic language, that is what the bystanders said to Peter when they heard him speak, "Thy speech bewrayeth thee." They recognized the accent of one who was from Galilee, and therefore concluded that he was with Jesus who had just come through the high priest's courtyard to be tried before the scribes and elders. Peter's speech betrayed him.

Our words give us away as well. I was in my yard, banking new soil to keep a sandy sloped area from washing away completely. A man walking his dog came by and, after an exchange of greetings, asked about my project. "I'm building terraces up here to keep everything from washing down onto the sidewalk," I explained. "Ah, you're from the farm!" he said. "That's what a farmer would call those." And it's true. My speech "betrayed" me.

Jesus told us this would happen. "For whatever is in your heart determines what you say," and "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45) We may try to argue this point: "I didn't mean it." "I was just kidding." "Well, he/she said, so I said . . ." "I so upset, I couldn't help it." But James writes, "Sometimes it [the tongue] praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring." (James 3:9-12)

What's inside will come out: Fear or faith. Fun or frustration. Falsehood or fact. Friendship or flattery. And, I found out, even the Farm.

MaryMartha

I have written quite a number of other articles about words and their power. To access them easily, click on the label "words" at the bottom of this article.