Lent Self-Examination: put away "evil speaking"

Lent is a time for self-examination and repentance. Here I would like to focus on part of Paul's instructions that also came to mind last week: 

Ephesians 4:31   Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.  

The "evil speaking" that I do tends to stay inside my head. That does not make it good. And Paul's observations are on-point: the evil speaking tends to grow out of anger. If someone has caused harm to me or my children, if something or someone threatens my livelihood or attacks my good name, it is natural to feel angry -- and it is good to stop the harm. Fuming inside myself increases the anger and does not address the harm. 

Paul's comments are much like Jesus' own comments on that: 

Matthew 15:18   But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

So the words may stay inside my head and heart, but that's far from the clean heart that we pray for. 

For this week, I plan to focus the self-examination on when any kind of "evil speaking" is on my mind. 

Luke 11:39   And the Lord said unto him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the plate; but inside ...