It's The Way You Said It

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”- James 3:9-10 (NIV)

We all get angry. We have our hard moments where we get caught up “in the flesh” and say things that are hurtful or harsh. Many of us have the ability to recognize when we were out of line; however it can be difficult to acknowledge due to our pride and our inability to accept that we were wrong.

Our words carry so much weight and we need to be aware of how we say things and the damage it can cause. Our words reflect our relationship with Christ, we might not think about it, but they do.

How do you respond when your waiter is behind? How do you respond when your flight is delayed? How do you respond when your spouse doesn’t finish something or get something done “on time”? "How do you…"you get the picture.

You see, our tongue is sharp. It can cut deep. We have all heard the saying, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it”, well…it’s true!

We have all had something hurtful said to us. We have all said hurtful things to someone. We need to own that and apologize whenever we get the chance. It’s amazing what kind of a witness that can be when we say “I’m sorry” for being out of bounds in our words.

Be aware of what you say. Be aware of how you say things. Think before you speak. Always be willing to humble yourself and apologize when you know you caused damage.

The hardest part is knowing, “I’m sorry” doesn’t completely heal, but your actions and words after “I’m sorry” do.

After you say what you say, learn from it. Work on controlling your words. Focus on fixing your attitude and let the healing begin.

Being a witness for Christ is a hard task, but our words hold a lot of the weight of our witness.

Hold your tongue, don’t stab people with it, and control the fires that could start by your inability to refrain from being hurtful.

Your words can affect your ability to share Jesus. Choose them wisely.

QUESTION: What are some tools you use to control your words?