“Keep your mouth free of perversity” is a call to not speak with “crooked” words — that is, deceitfully. We need to be honest with what we say and not have hidden agendas.
But, just in case we didn’t get it the first time, He said it again, “Keep corrupt talk far from your lips.”
“Perversity” and “corrupt” are synonymous concepts. Both are also pretty straight forward and make this message quite clear.
As people who are connected to God, we’re not supposed to say one thing and really mean something else!
Certainly we should be nice — so it’s not necessary that we always say everything we’re thinking! But we should be honest in our words.
Of course, this verse just tells us what to do it — it doesn’t say how. Yet, most of us already know.
We speak and act based on how we think. If we’re thinking right, we’ll be talking right.
And real right thinking won’t allow us to deceitfully say one thing when we’re really think something else!