BLOG?

So, who invented the word BLOG anyway?  I mean, it sounds like what it is: word vomit.  So was someone just writing a diary one day, then realized it was word vomit and decided to call it what it is?  a BL-AH-G?  I'm mostly just curious.  I would like to think that when I share my random thoughts with people, it's not just word vomit, but I read an e-mail from our pastor today that made me re-think how much I share, or overshare.  Below is a copy of the e-mail devotional, written by Jeff Wells, senior pastor of Woods Edge Community Church:

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Proverbs 10:19


The more we talk, the more we sin. That ought to sober us and cause us to slow down our talking, but many of us talk on! 

There was a tombstone in an English churchyard. The faint etching read:


Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
Lies Arabella Young,
Who, on the twenty-fourth of May,
Began to hold her tongue.


Far better if we heed Proverbs 10:19 and begin to hold our tongue while we live! The Bible says: That’s what wise people do. They are not incessant talkers. They talk, of course. But they are slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19).


Why do we talk too much? Maybe it’s nervousness. Maybe insecurity. But a big reason for excessive talking is pride. We are self-preoccupied, self-centered, self-enamored. Proverbs 18:2 says: "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."


One of my heroes is Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a courageous, fearless President with many incredible traits. But like the rest of us, he was one flawed individual. Talking too much was one of those flaws. One biographer, Edmund Morris, comments:


"He delights like a schoolboy in parading his knowledge, and does so loudly, and at such length, that less vigorous talkers lapse into weary silence. John Hay once calculated that in a two-hour dinner at the White House, Roosevelt’s guests were responsible for only four and a half minutes of conversation; the rest was supplied by the President himself."


OK, maybe you’re not that bad! I hope not! But Theodore Roosevelt is not the standard! God calls us to be careful, to hold back, to go slow when it comes to talking. Be slow to speak, quick to listen. Most of us get that backwards: We are quick to speak, slow to listen.


Words are a great resource. We can do so much good with life-giving words. But words can be abused. One way we abuse words is to talk too much and listen too little. In a day of cell phones, e-mail and Facebook, perhaps the problem of excessive words is worse than ever.


Wise people hold their tongue. How are you doing at this rare discipline?

Ouch.  "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."  Yes, I, more than most, need guidance and discipline in this area.  More than anything, I need self control in my life and I always think that I can add to a conversation or maybe something I say can help or encourage someone.  But a long time ago, a wise friend told me (very lovingly) "Christi, you don't always have to say every thought that comes to mind."  And perhaps this wise friend was right.  I wonder if holding my tongue would give others an opportunity to encourage, to share, to help be iron for another friend (or, heaven forbid, for me!)  So here it is, my BL-AH-G for today... about having fewer words, listening more, and loving others more than I love the sound of my own voice.  No longer I.