Being my Brothers Keeper. Avoiding the Sting of Careless Chat

By Dr. Carlton Bruce

Every once in a while, it’s probably an incredibly good idea to listen to our talk. See, if and when we take the time to check our chatter, we’re most likely to avoid the cringe of “I cant believe I said that”.

As kids one of our favorite songs having to do with careless, cruel or empty chatter was:

Be careful little lips what you say, (repeat)

For The Father up above, is looking down in love,

So be careful little lips what you say…

Like the vast majority of songs back in our childhood, what usually was important then was 'catchy music' and rhyming lyrics. But these many years later, the recall and enjoyment of our childhood songs can suffer from a “Sudden Berean Mindset” as what was once enjoyable is suddenly stalled by “But does it make sense?”

Musing “Scripturally, does is make sense? And how does it line up with scripture?” prompts us to muse Proverbs 21:23 ESV Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. These days, the older we grow, the more we desire to keep ourselves out of trouble. But avoiding trouble is so, so much easier said than done…

‘Course the number one strategy to avoid chat catastrophe is holding our tongue. Proverbs 10:19 ESV When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. Realistically, our typical day is filled with the times we have to talk.

But when we do, usually it’s just a 'matter of time' 'fore ‘we go overboard’, and say way more than necessary. We'll say way too much, or worse, slip into disrespect and quarrel. It’s when we do best to remember, “For the Father up above, is looking down in love”. And Love = Punish!

Yup. It’s painful but true as we recall Proverbs 3:11-12 ESV My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. So, if and when we engage in idle, rude, disrespectful, or otherwise low life chatter, God may eventually, cause us some serious pain…

‘Course the flip side of the above is our responsibility to help others avoid chat catastrophe also. BTW: One of the most problematic of careless and empty chatter has to do with intercessory prayer and caring. If and when someone mentions a need, we do well to proceed with caution...

Unless we’re ready to ‘stop and pray right then and right there’, we should avoid glibly saying “I’ll pray for you”. Since as century 21 disciples of Lord Jesus we’re always in ‘pray without ceasing’ mode anyway, it’s best to simply switch to “out loud mode” and say:

“Father God, on authority of the shed blood of Lord Jesus, we ask for your healing touch here”. Sure, they'll get surprised. But you’ll avoid the probability of another careless, empty chat and likely, punishment by God. Why would He punish us? That’s easy:

Cause He loves us!

Dr B, aka Carlton