What We Say (And Write) Matters

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

I love the bloggy world! I really do. I love the fact that there is an outlet for normal, everyday people, to share their talents and speak their mind. I highly favor free speech and what I am about to say is not meant to stifle that. I’m sure some people will not like this post and may be offended by it. That is not my intention at all, but at the same time, I’m not going to let that stop me from posting it.

I have read at least three different blog posts in the last week that seemed as I was reading to be fantastic posts that reflected some of the same feelings that I share with these folks on certain topics. So much so, I think as I’m reading, “I am going to share this post!”

Until somewhere in the middle of the post, out of nowhere, there is a cuss word. Not a horrible one, but one none the less, used in that context. When that happens, I will finish reading the article, but I will not like it nor will I share it, no matter how good the post is.

The types of posts I generally gravitate to reading are faith based posts about marriage, family and growing in Christ. The blog posts that I am referring to were written by people whose entire blog is based on Jesus Christ. Their entire about us page is about seeking out Christ or in one case it was a Pastor who posted it.

Now, I’m not perfect. I am not sitting here saying that I don’t occasionally have a word come out of my mouth that shouldn’t. It happens, but it shouldn’t happen in writing. If you are taking the time to write a post, there is no, “oops it just slipped”. In the context that I have read in these posts lately, there is no reason for it. You could just as easily remove the word and put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence and get the same general effect.

I just have this gut wrenching (maybe an urging from the Holy Spirit) feeling that I need to share this thought. If you create a blog that is Christ centered, you should do your best to be a reflection of Christ. While in our human form, we cannot completely reflect Christ as we are flawed humans with a sinful nature, we can be mindful of the small things that can impact the lives of our readers. Can one little word do that? Yes! It can.

In all honesty, the people who wrote the posts that I read, likely will not ever read this post. That being said, it may be pointless to post it to begin with. My goal is not to change someone’s writing, but just to put it out there that as we follow Christ and have not only the ability, but the responsibility to share Him with others, we MUST be mindful of the words we choose to do that.

Christ didn’t call us to perfection, but He did call us to a higher standard and to reflect Him in everything we do, that includes what we write and post online.