Keep My Mouth Shut

I have a few checks for my speech that I like to employ. The problem is I have been too slack. Be vigilant. Be sober. Satan prowls about seeking whom he may devour. What better way to be destroyed or destroy others than to let the guard down on our speech. Be careful if you bite and devour one another, soon you will be consumed by each other. What have I done?
So because there is always another chance with God, again I pray that my speech will always be full of grace.
So, back to the checks.
First, if I am saying something about a person, would I use the same words and tone of voice if he were standing beside me. Sometimes what I am saying is okay, but I would say it more gently if I was talking to the person I was talking about. I use to think I made this up, but recently I was reading a book by Max Lucado and he mentioned it. Probably I got the idea from him.
Second, if there is something I really want to tell someone about myself -- Don't say it! Although exceptions should be made because this is partly how people become closer friends. But will what I say help the other person? Am I the star of the story?
And finally, what people are saying to you, they will be saying about you. If they tell others' secrets, they will probably tell yours. If they complain about others, they will probably complain about you.
The power of death or life is in my tongue. I'd much rather spread life!

Practice, Practice, Then Practice Again

At times I have been amazed at the tactless or blunt things that an elderly person has said. Just to clarify, this is not common to all. I wonder if I will be like that when I am older. I've been wondering what makes people say things. Were they always like that? Is it just part of becoming older? Do they forget what it was like to be in a younger person's position? Or maybe they just are not as encumbered by social pressures? They feel no need to be cautiously polite? Perhaps that's a good thing.
But then I think, maybe it's because practice makes perfect. Maybe it is not that an older person is any more blunt or seemingly inconsiderate, it's just they've had 40 more years to practice. I think of all the times I am prompted in my heart not to say things. At times I listen, and with gratitude pray for more discretion. Other times, I say what I want to say anyways. What if I continued to ignore those little nudges? What if every time I thought of something, I just said it. Would I become more and more calloused and thoughtless. I think so.
Life is made up of little choices. Right now I am practicing to be the person I will become. Take eating for example. I would not wake Monday morning and proclaim that I am a healthy eater. My husband would question me about the cookies and the sugary cappuccino I had the day before. But if I woke up Monday morning and chose fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. and then did the same on Tuesday, then Wednesday, then the whole month, I would have become a healthy eater by my little choices.
I do not want to grow old and be a critical gossip, or slanderer, or even merely a thoughtless person. I want my speech to always be full of grace, imparting life to the hearer.
I do not want to grow more prideful with age. I must practice humble responses now.
As they say, practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice.