Silence is Golden

I have had a great problem with speaking before knowing all the facts in my life. As you can imagine, this habit has not exactly attracted loads of people my way. I learn more each day and would like to think that I hold my tongue much better than I did when I was younger. Unfortunately this personality quirk still surfaces every now and then and gets me into a heap of trouble like it used to. One of these incidents happened the other night and cost me more trouble than I had any intention of creating. The worst part about this incident is that it could have all been avoided if I had only chose to listen before I spoke.

In life it is much easier to fall down a hill than to climb back up it. All it takes is one flick of the tongue and you can destroy or deeply damage a friendship, trust, an agreement, a marriage, a job, and the list goes on and on. The worst part about it is that it is essentially impossible to reverse the impact once the words have slipped out of your mouth. In the lawyer shows that most of us enjoy watching, we know that the lawyers intentionally throw out comments that are not allowed because they know even if the Judge tells the jury to disregard the comment that it will still be in the jury's minds. If you accidentally cause a forest fire, the damage is not automatically repaired because you are sorry. It requires firefighters, time, and care to fully restore the burnt land and it will never look the same as it once did. Well our words work the same way. The Bible says in James that our tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

Knowing this helps us to be careful of the words we speak. It helps us to make sure we have all the facts before opening our mouth and hopefully cautions us from saying things we can't take back. Unlike a forest fire, we as humans have the ability to forgive and extend grace when hurtful words are given accidentally. I praise the Lord that he cultivates these qualities in those who know him. Though I do not mean the harm I cause by my words, it does not negate the pain I inflict by not measuring my words carefully.

Thank you Jesus for your love and grace that helps to heal relationships when we are hurtful. Please offer me your wisdom to know when to speak and when not to speak. The Serenity prayer speaks volumes to this issue, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." If only I could live that prayer each day, I believe life would be much easier to live. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. Oh that we would learn to listen, truly listen, before even considering to open our mouths.