Reckless and Careless Speech

Words That Heal - Chapter 4: "Don't Give It a Thought!"

"Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing"
(Proverbs 12:18)

It is so easy to be careless with our words. And too often those words hurt the people around us. I can't even count the number of times I have regretted hastily spoken words, and even worse, really hurt someone by being careless and reckless.

Mayhall talks about some of the times in life when we tend to be careless, including exaggeration and flattery. One of these examples that most captured my attention was when we casually give surface answers to deep problems and hurts, such as when someone is hurting and we rattle off reasons for pain and suffering.

Most of the time we are better off keeping our mouth shut and ask for wisdom for the right words and timing to speak. "I am convinced that daily, perhaps hourly, we need to ask God to help us bite our tongue... to help us think before we speak." We need to pray for quick sensitivity to the Spirit's leading.

"Lord, forgive me for my careless, reckless words. Show me where I have hurt those around me, and help me be quick to repent. Set a guard over my mouth. Keep me for speaking shallow cliches when people are hurting. Teach me to be silent until you give me words of wisdom that bring healing."

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I am currently reading Words That Hurt, Words That Heal by Carole Mayhall.
Check out the other posts in this series.