You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth. Proverbs 6:1 AMP

Talking comes so natural, even for the quiet people. We come into this world one coo away from our first words. And when we begin, that’s “all she wrote.” We will use words the rest of our days to transact business, to express emotional desires, and put people in their place.

That is why every single misunderstanding has a verbal DNA. At some point, something was asked or said, then acted upon. And the outcome was toxic or imprisoning for one party or all involved.

When I was fourteen, I awakened to the fact that money was required if I was going to do all those “fun things” I had a notion to do. Therefore, I started hustling and rustling up odd little jobs around the neighborhood.

Then, one day, a guy came by the house selling (or trying to sell) my mom a vacuum. He was saying everything he thought he needed to get a favorable response from her. All of a sudden he made her a proposition; “If I can get your son a job, will you buy one of my vacuums?” That got our attention, and mom strongly considered.

He asked me how bad I wanted to work. I said “really, really bad.” So after mom signed some initial paperwork, he made a phone call to a buddy who managed a pizza parlor across town!

That night, it all sounded great and I went to bed thinking prosperous thoughts. But in the end, it was all smoke and mirrors just to get my mom to sign. She was smart enough to not be ensnared by the potential scheme, but I was so thirsty for a “real job” I was willing to put blind confidence in the words of a stranger. In my little mind, I had my first check estimated and spent before I went to sleep that night.

Words are so powerful. Our scripture in Proverbs reminds us that if you look up and see ropes around your wrist or chains around your heart, check your mouth. Somewhere along the way, words opened the door and issued an invitation.