As a young person, I would often speak very fast and slur words together in my haste to get my message out.  My mother called it “lazy tongue.”  She would continually correct me, saying, “Speak more slowly and clearly so that people will be able to understand what you are saying. Otherwise, you are just wasting your breath.”

It wasn’t until my freshman year in college when I got a “D” my first oral assignment in Speech 101 that I realized how right she was.

The same truth applies to us today as we share God’s truth with each other.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:9,

“So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.”

In this passage, the Apostle Paul was referring to the fact that when people in the church spoke in unknown tongues, no one could understand them, so no one was edified.

But the principle is broader than just speaking in tongues.  When we are with other people and share the Word of God, pray, or even sing a spiritual song or hymn, we should do it so that others can understand the message.

If no one understands what we are saying or singing, then we are just throwing our words into the wind.

And if no one is edified, then God is not glorified.