I have been aware lately of how I speak about other people. It was sparked by a verse in the bible from the book of James. In chapter 3 the writer starts talking about the tongue, and the power it has. The verses that caught my attention were in regards to how we can speak both "blessings and curses" from the same mouth.
I was intrigued. I am basically a nerd, who loves words. Since I have started writing in this blog, my hope is that it may somehow encourage other people. So if I am taking the verses literally, I wonder how the good things I may say are affected by those that may be less than good.
Now to be clear, sometimes I have a habit of being critical or sarcastic. What comes out of my mouth is less than stellar. Although, this is not a case of being mean straight to someone's face. It is more about my mouth, than anyone hearing what I say. So can I expect God to honor the blessings I may speak and ignore the junk?
Where I live, there is arsenic in the water. They test it periodically and send out a report to the general public. We have what is termed "acceptable levels" of arsenic in the water. So even though we have arsenic, it still falls into the governments parameters of what we as humans can live with.
It does not matter how much arsenic is in the water. Once there is a trace, it is no longer clean. So I am thinking, what would be my choice? Clear water with no arsenic, or water with acceptable levels? The choice is clear, I want the clean water. I want the water that in 50 years, no one is going to come to me and say that it wasn't as acceptable as they thought. That the bad may outweigh the good in the water and there may be consequences further down the road.
I guess I feel the same way about my words. I do not want to be at the end of my life and find that the thoughtless criticism I so casually dropped, polluted the meaning of what I really wanted to say. That the snide sarcasm and wit was hurtful. That instead of building up, all it did was tear down. And for me...I just don't find that "acceptable" anymore.
