A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life;
A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless. —Anon.
He who guards his mouth preserves his life. —Proverbs 13:3
Let's admit it. We are a judgmental people. Even if we don't want to be there is something in us that makes a small judgment. It's how we decide if we want to spend time with a person or even speak with them. Even if we don't want to, it's the humanness in us. Even in the scope of recovery we judge..why are they further along in their recovery? Why do they keep failing and acting out?
But if there is one thing we need to consider before making that judgment is that we never know what is going on in that person's life. Instead of thinking "Why do they keep failing at recovery?" perhaps think "I wonder if there is something hindering that person that I might be able to help with?" "Or I wonder if my saying some encouraging words might bless them today?"
And we need to examine our own words and how they are delivered. If we are only thinking these words to ourselves then we at least have a filter in place. But, it's not always the case and sometimes when we feel that we are in a recovery group, then we are safe and can express some of these thoughts.
However, we really need to always remember that we never know if our words will throw someone's recovery off because they were hurtful. It's true - the sayings we learned from our parents hold their weight in gold. "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all." and "Talk to others as you would to be spoken to."
Let's choose to have our words be a blessing to others. Let's work hard to rid the thoughts from our mind so that they never appear as words on our lips.
