"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Col. 4:6).

Some people are often giving others a piece of their mind about something that doesn't suit them.  If you are always giving others a piece of your mind you might not have much of a mind left.  We laugh at that, but how true that is.  We should not speak our mind on everything.  We certainly should carefully watch, that we aren't being hurtful to others.

A young boy had a problem with always quickly speaking out and many were hurt.  His mother told him after one such incident, that he needed to take a sack of feathers and place them on various people's doorsteps.  He was told to come back when the sack was empty.  He quickly did this and thought this was not difficult at all.  When he got back and he thought he was through, his mother said now go back and pick all those feathers back up into the sack and then you will be through.  The boy said, "Oh no, that is impossible, the wind has been blowing and those feathers are scattered everywhere by now."  His mother told the boy that this is how it has been with his words.  When your words have gone out and have hurt others, it is too late to get them back.  The hurt and the pain is already done.

God's creative force is in His Spoken word.  By His word the worlds were created and all things in the world were made.  As Spirit rebirthed sons of God, Christ is now living in us.  We should allow Christ to be the speaker within us.  We should allow His Spirit the ability to lead and guide us on:  To whom we say,  to whom we say it about, how, when , and what to say.  It is a whole lot easier to stop and think before you speak, and ensure you have His purpose, motivation, and grace to be empowering what you speak.  His words in us needs to be building up and not tearing down.

My dear pastor, Dr. L. D. Ball said often as I was growing up:  "Think before you speak."  In fact, I remember seeing it under the glass on many of the desks in the church offices, and it made a lasting impression on me.  The acronym for THINK was used to remind us all of the questions that we should THINK about before we speak.

Think Before You Speak

T - Is it Thoughtful?
H - Is it Helpful?
 I - Is it Important?
N - Is it Necessary?
K - Is it Kind?