WWJS

"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2

My Grandma was always one to use those old sayings that honestly, still prove their need in our day and age. "A penny saved is a penny earned", "life is like a bowl of cherries", "practice what you preach", and "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" were just a handful of those phrases that she would say. But though each saying deserves it's individual attention in separate posts, it'd be nice to touch base on at least one of these. 

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

This does not exclude us from telling the truth. However, though the truth is important, we should look at being tactful first. We may see a friend as being overweight and may inwardly feel that they should go on a diet; but we probably aren't going to want to walk up to them and tell them what we're thinking. We realize that this type of conversation could hurt their feelings and we would try to avoid doing that if we really cared about how they would take what we said. And this would lead us to the point that I'd really like for us to focus on in this post: WWJS. Note: you have maybe heard of "WWJD" (What Would Jesus Do), but what if we were to look at it another way and ask the question: "What Would Jesus Say"?

What if every word we said reflected the tone of voice that Jesus would use. What if every word we said reflected Christ's love for us and we were to ricochet that love on those around us? What if the words we used changed the lives of our unsaved friends or family members? or even if we planted a seed in their hearts that pointed them towards Christ? Would we make more of an effort to speak with encouraging words, use words of wisdom, to think before we speak, maybe even to pray before uttering a word? How can we use our voices to lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of tearing them down?

"The trouble with the guy who talks too fast is that he often says something he hasn't thought of yet."

Think before we speak:

I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to slap my face for saying stupid things. Those are moments when I "speak first and think later". The mouth seems to keep moving, but I put the brain on pause. And to think that all that embarrassment could have been avoided if I had thought first and spoken later.

Ask ourselves if it's necessary:

If it's necessary to say something, we need to think out how we're going to say what needs to be said. It's not always about how you say them, it's what. (Although saying things in the proper tone is still vital in getting the right message across). Which leads us to... 

How will the other person take it:

When we have figured out what (or even how) we should say something, we will already be taking into consideration the feelings of the person we are addressing our words to, and respecting those feelings as that of another human being.  

Believe it's something Jesus would say:

We can't just think: "Yeah, I think Jesus would say something that way". We need to believe it. Is it loving? Is it respectful? Is it truthful? Is it necessary to bring up? Are our intentions right? By asking ourselves and thinking through our responses and statements, we will be avoiding embarrassing circumstances that we could get into by blindly opening our mouths and letting just anything come flooding out. Would what we say to someone after taking our next breath be something that we would hear Jesus say?    

Will hope spring forth from your lips? Will the things we say be blessings or curses? Do we want to make even a slight difference in someone else's life by the words we speak? 

As Christians, the world is watching us. "What Would Jesus Say?"

Sister in Christ,

Anna