“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may import grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
Paul’s words here are direct and absolute as he writes one of his most positive epistles to this church. Their communication is not to be on the lower level of coarseness but on the higher level of spiritual and moral encouragement.
“Corrupt” means words that are rotten; that is, they are bad or of poor quality. Words of this nature provide unwholesome conversation. “Good” refers to words that are “upright, honorable, and acceptable to God.”
The purpose of this instruction about the everyday conversation of Christians is to encourage the use of wholesome words that will contribute to the edification of those around us, building them up as followers of Jesus.