Too Much to Say

As a Type-A personality (some might say ADD) I have a unusual tendency to stick my foot in my mouth...not to mention so many words I wish I had not said. I have been challenged by William Zinsser's book, On Writing Well. I have been challenged to keep my tongue from moving rather than let it flap in the wind. I choose to be a good steward with the air I breathe rather than wasting someone's ears. I don't want to get addicted to the click of the keyboard as Strunk & White talk about. Why? It stems from more than a desire to not be embarrassed. It's roots go down deep into the soil of the Bible. Consider: Prov. 17:28 - Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Even a fool! This should make us more careful to say someone is a genius just because he is a man of few words. At the least, it should make us consider that this person is smarter than us, merely because he heeds this proverb. Consider Jesus: Matt. 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak... Every time you curse someone on the road or gossip or slander someone, you will be called to give an account. Don't think it a light thing to mutter under your breath how stupid someone or something is. Repent because Jesus also says two verses earlier: Matt. 12:34 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. I say all this to say to myself, you, and other folks out there speaking and typing out a deluge of words, be careful. I look all around the internet and see frivolous words being spouted off. All the ridiculous posts will be called to account. Even if you don't blog, the words you speak in solitude will be brought before you for you to give an account. Don't waste your breath, invest it into eternity...after all your life is only that, a breath (James 4:14) In other words: James 1:19   Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger...