Kind Words
He who would love life and see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. .
1 Peter 3:10
Have you ever sent an email and suddenly realized it went to the wrong person, or it contained harmful, harsh words? If only you could press a key and stop it. Well, now you can. Several companies offer a feature that gives you a brief time after sending an email to stop it from leaving your computer. After that, the email is like a spoken word that cannot be unsaid. Rather than being seen as a cure-all, an “unsend” feature should remind us that it is extremely important to guard what we say.
In the apostle Peter’s first letter, he told the followers of Jesus Christ, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing. . . . For, ‘whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it’ ” (1 Peter 3:9-11).
The psalmist David wrote, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps 141:3). That is a good prayer for the beginning of each day and in every situation when we want to strike back with words.
Read
1 Peter 3:8-12.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, teach me to guard my hearts so that I may guard my tongue. And help me, when I do say things I regret, to humbly apologise and seek forgiveness. In Christ's name. Amen.
Amen