If thou wouldest be a good neighbour, take heed of thy tongue…That thou with it give no offensive language to thy neighbour, to the provoking of him to anger. Bear much, put up wrongs, and say little…And as thou shouldest take heed that thou be not the original of contention and anger, so also take heed that thou be not an instrument to beget it between parties, by tale-bearing and a gossiping spirit: “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.”
Speech
Charles Swindoll
We need to think of our tongue as a messenger that runs errands for our heart. Our words reveal our character.
Blaise Pascal
Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men’s souls, and a beautiful image it is.
Frederick W Faber
With the help of grace, the habit of saying kind words is very quickly formed, and when once formed, it is not speedily lost. Sharpness, bitterness, sarcasm, acute observation, divination of motives, – all these things disappear when a man is earnestly conforming himself to the image of Christ Jesus. The very attempt to be like our dearest Lord is already a well-spring of sweetness within us, flowing with an easy grace over all who come within our reach.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Our prayers may be very beautiful in appearance and might appear to be the very paragon of devotion, but unless there is a secret spiritual force in them, they are vain things.
Darlene Cunningham
I often say to others that I have “teeth marks on my tongue” from choosing NOT to speak when I am criticized or accused of something! Proverbs 10:19 says, “… he who holds his tongue is wise.” I want to develop a higher standard of self-control, asking God to help me filter my words.
John Wesley
Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this.
David A. Powlison
We are meant to live with God on the throne, with a wide-open heart to him and others. But a contentious, judgmental person has shrivelled up inside, shutting down to both God and neighbour. On the outside, a contentious person speaks rotten words that tear down rather than build up and condemn rather than give grace (Ephesians 4:29). On the inside, a person swept up in sinful anger has become demonic and diabolical—in the truest sense—an image-bearer of the hostile critic of God’s people (James 3:15;4:7).
Thomas Merton
The words of the proud man impose silence on all others, so that he alone may be heard. The humble man speaks only in order to be spoken to.
Ed Stetzer
A mature Christian recognizes that correcting every wrong on the Internet would take more hours than a full-time job. If you snap every time your great-aunt’s friend’s cousin thrice-removed makes a snarky comment about “all the contradictions in the Bible,” it will consume you and your joy.]