‘As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God’. (Psalm 42:1)One of the BBC’s flagship shows, Strictly Come Dancing, holds its launch show on Saturday, although it made the news this week for another reason. One of the shows judges said something inappropriate about last year’s winners and was made to offer an apology after recognising his words were ‘hurtful, cruel and incredibly disrespectful.’ 1
It’s easy to open our mouths only to put our foot in it. Our words are powerful, as the biblical writer of Proverbs noted, ‘The tongue has the power of life and death.’(Proverbs 18:21)
One saying I was taught when I was young was, ‘Think before you speak’ . Regretfully it is not one that I have always followed, but I have found that it pays dividends when applied. In fact the word ‘think’ is a very useful acronym to use before we say something:
T – Is what we are going to say true?
H – Is what we are going to say helpful?
I – Is what we are going to say inspiring?
N – Is what we are going to say necessary?
K – Is what we are going to say kind?
If it doesn’t pass the THINK test then I’ve found through experience it is better not said. Now that’s given me something to think about – how about you?
Have a good week thinking about what you say.
Pastor Barry
