Think Before You Speak

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak. —James 1:19

Are you someone who doesn’t know what you think until you’ve said it aloud? Do you tend to blurt out your thoughts? If so, you may be in greater danger of falling into slander than a more reflective person—although quiet folk are not immune from sinning with their tongues.

I’m not trying to inhibit spontaneous speech, but I do think this is something to consider. How often do we get ourselves in trouble by failing to think about what we’re saying while we’re saying it?

When people ask our opinion, sometimes the best answer is, “I don’t really know enough to have one.” And when we find ourselves in the middle of a group discussion, sometimes the wisest thing we can do is say nothing at all. Do the people we’re talking to really need to know what we think—especially if our assessment of another person is less than positive?

Before you speak, pray as the psalmist did: “LORD, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips” (141:3).

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Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together © 2017 Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Scripture taken from The CSB