Have you ever watched a house being built? It doesn’t happen all at once—workers add one brick at a time, one board at a time, one nail at a time. Day by day, all those small pieces add up to create a finished house.

Building up your faith works the same way! Every day, we’re adding “bricks” to the house of our character through the words we say and the thoughts we think. The psalmist in Psalm 19:14 understood this when he prayed for two specific things: that his words would please God and that his thoughts would be acceptable to God.

This might seem like a simple prayer, but think about how much time you spend talking and thinking every single day! From the moment you wake up until you go to sleep, your mind is thinking about things, and your mouth is saying words. Over time your life will reflect what you’ve been thinking about and talking about.

If you spend your time thinking mean thoughts about people and saying unkind words, you’ll become a mean person. But if you focus your thoughts on good things (like the Bible tells us to do in Philippians 4:8) and speak words that encourage and help others, you’ll become the kind of person that makes God smile!

Take Action: Try memorizing Psalm 19:14 and praying it every morning when you wake up: “May my words and my thoughts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord” (NET). Then throughout the day, pay attention to what you’re saying and thinking. Are your words building others up or tearing them down? Are your thoughts focused on good things or negative things? Remember, you’re building your character one word and one thought at a time!