Cheerful Words not Idle
Matthew 12:36
But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.


I do not call words idle simply because they cannot be registered and measured by a matter-of-fact standard. How often has an airy word of pleasantry fallen on the ear and pierced the shield of prejudice or passion! How often has the cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, but which would soon have overspread the whole sky, been dispersed by a momentary gleam of bright sunshine, and by a word which in itself was only fugitive, and hardly to be remembered. You cannot call that an idle word which is the outflow of simple cheerfulness, if it dissipates an angry thought.

(A. Watson, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

WEB: I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.




Accounts for Eternity
Top of Page
Top of Page