That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life...
Philippians 2:15-16a

Monday, May 14, 2012

Words

Words. Once you say them, you can't take them back.  Once you read them, they are difficult to forget.  Words can be erased, but the memory of those words stays.  I think about words a lot.  I think about conversations I've had with people.  What I said. What I didn't say. What I should have said. What they said.  And so on...  Does anyone else ever do that, or is it just me????

I may have mentioned this on here before, but was either my third or fourth year of college that God convicted me greatly concerning my words.  The verse He used to do that was Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. When I read that verse, I thought, that's what I need!  A watch!  Someone to guard my mouth against saying things I would regret.

Since that time, I've tried to exercise caution in the way I speak.  I don't always succeed.  Emotion often takes over, and words are spoken in haste.  The saying "Think before you speak" is not always something I've done.  Thankfully, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me." are also words that are part of my vocabulary.  Not that I like saying those words either, but it's better than having the damaging words live on.

I love the verse in Colossians 4:6; Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.  Sometimes it's necessary to say difficult things, but even in that it's possible to let your speech be graceful.  Sometimes the truth hurts, but the truth can always be said with grace.  I love salt.  It makes food taste so good!  That's why I think this analogy really resonates with me.  Our words should taste like a good meal with salt on it :).  That's a lot to think about, but it certainly helps with what I say.

The internet is a scary place for words!  Somehow it seems that people will say things on the internet that they would never say to a person in real life.  Maybe it's easier to talk to a computer screen...haha!  For me, this is definitely true!  I tend to be quieter in person, but online I write stuff that sounds pretty bold and opinionated.  I do have opinions, I just don't necessarily talk about them with people the same way I write about them.  The internet is way less confrontational that way.  And on the internet, you don't have to worry about someone arguing back with you if they don't agree with you.  But, what you do have to worry about is that ANYONE can read what I've written.  THAT'S kinda scary!  The other scary thing about the internet is that it's easy to be misunderstood.  I get misunderstood a lot in person, so it's even worse online :P.  I write a lot on my blog, and I've often thought about shutting it down and deleting all of it, because someone might misunderstand me.  It's a pretty delicate balance.  I do think a lot about the stuff I write on my blog.  I re-read my posts many times over!  I have had people tell me they enjoy reading what I write and find it an encouragement, so I probably won't delete it :P.  But, misunderstandings are a risk you take when you blog!

With all that in mind, I hope you've enjoyed reading the preceding words :).  I hope they were an encouragement, and that they were graceful, and even seasoned with salt :).

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