Daily Nuggets

BE CAREFUL OF IDLE WORDS

That is, useless chat—unprofitable talk—that is not referred any way to the glory of God.[1] This is a common evil and little regarded by most, if not all. Words are just words, we tell ourselves. Others say, ‘I do not really in sincerity mean them, it is just a way of talking’. Yet, such a one forgets that his/her mouth is but the very out-let of his heart. Hence, idle words are the smoke of the heart.

Why are idle words evil?

  1. The evil of them is exceedingly aggravated by this: they abuse and pervert the tongue, that noble member, from that employment and use which God by the law of creation designed it to.
  2. It is a sinful wasting of our precious time.
  3. It is a sin that few are sensible of as they are of other sins, and therefore the more dangerous. They are quickly committed and easily forgotten.
  4. They have mischievous effects upon other people; you pass them on or others unconsciously take them on.

[1] Thought adapted from John Flavel, Sinful Speech.

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