Unclean Lips

When Isaiah saw God, his first thought was that he shouldn’t be there.

Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

2 Nephi 16:5, Isaiah 6:5

Notice, this sense of not belonging came not just from his own actions but from the actions of the people around him. He felt tainted by association, unworthy partly because of the culture in which he had been immersed.

I can imagine that happening to any of us. We have all said things that we later regretted. We have all heard things that we wish we hadn’t heard, either from the people around us or from the media we choose to consume. Our patterns of speech are also heavily influenced by what we hear. Cultural norms influence the way we talk about things, for good or for ill. I’m sure that when we stand before our Creator, all of those memories will make us feel out of place.

Fortunately, Isaiah didn’t stay in this uncomfortable state for long. A heavenly being touched his lips with a hot coal, symbolically purging his sin and purifying him. (See 2 Nephi 16:6-7, Isaiah 6:6-7.) We must be purified in order to remain in God’s presence, and we can be purified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Elder Robert S. Wood observed:

I’ve been struck by the fact that when Isaiah received his charge from the Lord, he bemoaned that he was “a man of unclean lips” and dwelt “in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). This sin too had to be purged from Isaiah if he was to bear the word of the Lord. Is it any wonder that psalmists and prophets alike have beseeched the Lord to “set a watch” before their lips and guard the “door” of their lips (Ps. 141:3), to help them sin not with their tongue (see Ps. 39:1)?

When we speak and act, we should ask whether our words and expressions are calculated to invite the powers of heaven into our lives and to invite all to come unto Christ. We must treat sacred things with reverence. We need to eliminate from our conversations the immodest and the lewd, the violent and the threatening, the demeaning and the false.

“The Tongue of Angels,” General Conference, October 1999

I would add that the words we write are at least as important as the words we speak. Social media posts, text messages, and online comments deserve the same level of scrutiny and self-discipline as the words we say out loud.

Nephi said that after we have been baptized by fire and receive the Holy Ghost, we can “speak with the tongue of angels” (2 Nephi 31:13-14, 2 Nephi 32:2). What a glorious promise! When we fall short of it, we ought to immediately repent and seek God’s forgiveness, so that we can again qualify for the His Spirit.

Today, I will pay particular attention to my words. I will avoid speech which offends the Spirit of the Lord and which would make me uncomfortable in God’s presence. When I fall short of that standard, I will repent with confidence that God can purge my sin and make me holy.