By your words you will be justified,
and by your words you will be condemned.
—Matthew 12:37
At a performance of Shakespear’s Twelfth Night, Kim Peek, a savant who had memorized all of Shakespeare’s plays, shouted, “Stop it!” The actor, who had skipped a verse, apologized, saying, “I didn’t think it would matter.” Peek said, “It would matter to Shakespeare.”
If you have ever been misquoted or misinterpreted—and you have been—you are painfully aware that words matter.
You don’t control others’ words—but you are the sole manager of yours. Taking the words of another out of context or attributing a meaning to them that they didn’t intend is dishonest.
Before words leave your lips, run them through this filter: “Is this a kind and loving thing to say?”
“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless” (Jas 1:26).
Think before you speak.