Speech Reveals the Heart

“Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” – Romans 3:13-14

Paul’s argument shifts our attention from man’s condition to his conversation. Paul reaches into the Psalms to describe humanity’s fallen speech, drawing a disturbing image: “Their throat is an open grave.” Just as a rotting corpse spreads stench and disease, so spiritually dead hearts produce corrupt speech. Our words expose what’s hidden inside. Like bait on a hook, deception becomes second nature, drawing others in with flattery only to entangle them. The description intensifies—Paul likens fallen speech to venom from a striking serpent, deadly and deliberate. It’s a grim reminder that our mouths don’t operate independently of our hearts. They are, in fact, mirrors to the soul.

James echoes this warning: the tongue is small but powerful, capable of setting entire lives on fire. It can praise God in one breath and curse His image-bearers in the next. Proverbs paints a clear contrast between the lips of the righteous and the mouths of fools. And if you listen long enough, you’ll hear a person’s character poured out in their speech—either in grace or in gossip, in truth or in manipulation.

The Bible reminds us that character isn’t just revealed in actions; it’s revealed in conversation. What we say, how we say it, and why we say it all matter. Our words leave a trail—sometimes healing, sometimes harm. And without Christ, the trail leads only to destruction. Fallen humanity, left to itself, tends toward destruction and defamation, using words not to build up but to tear down. It’s no wonder Paul places speech in his lineup of indictments—it flows directly from a heart estranged from God.

So how should this shape our day? Let it stir repentance in the places where our own speech has been careless, cutting, or compromised. Ask the Lord to sanctify your mouth by first cleansing your heart. Before speaking, pause to consider: Is this life-giving? Is it truthful? Is it loving? Psalm 19:14 offers a great prayer to start the day: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord.” Because when grace fills the heart, grace flows through the tongue—and that’s how the world hears the gospel, one word at a time.