Inside Voice

Does that picture look like you wish you would have done? If you are like me, sometimes I say things without thinking. They pop in my mind and I say them before I have a chance to think if they might be innapropriate? offensive? taken out of context? stupid? annoying? or just plain babbling? I don't mean to or want to come across that way, but when your mind is always racing and thinking and you like to make people laugh sometimes things just come out quicker than you want them to and sometimes things come out that should have just stayed right inside where they belonged.

I'm sure I am not the only person who suffers with this disease of "foot in your mouth". Sometimes it may be funny and sometimes it may be cute when someone spouts off something very random and out of place, but sometimes it can be hurtful. Sometimes we can say something to a loved one or a close friend and we don't think it through and it is hurtful or upsetting. Something else I've learned is the tone we use in our voice.

We can even do it in e-mails. We can spout off in an e-mail and an e-mail can't describe our emotion or facial expressions or tone and it can be taken wrong or out of context or misunderstood. I've learned the hard way that e-mail is not always the best way to communicate and sometimes it's better to talk in person.

One of the things I'm learning is everything we think or feel doesn't need to always be expressed in words. Sometimes I need to keep comments to myself. Sometimes I need to listen instead of talking. Sometimes being quiet and not talking is the best way to avoid a conflict at that particular moment. Life is all about learning and if you are not learning you are not living. It makes no sense to continually make the same mistakes over and over again. We must learn from our mistakes and be better people because of them.

I think Jesus and James both give us something to think about. We must be careful what we say and how we say it. It takes thought, discipline, and maturity to use our mouths and words wisely. I know I need to do a better job, how about you?

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34b(NIV)

"but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." James 3:8(NIV)