We've all heard the saying: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Wouldn’t it be nice if more people lived by that? It’s simple, practical wisdom. And we’d do well to encourage it more often.
But I like to add a follow-up question: "If you don't have anything nice to say, why not?" What’s going on in the heart that makes bitterness or venom feel like the only option?
Psalm 140 opens with an urgent cry for help. The psalmist names God as deliverer. That's good because danger is close. Violent evildoers are not just attacking with weapons. They’re scheming with their words. Before the first interlude, the psalmist compares their speech to the venom of snakes.
That poison starts long before it’s spoken. It begins in the heart and mind: “They plan evil things… they stir up wars.” That sounds a lot like something Jesus said: "The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).
So if we find ourselves with nothing kind to say, we should ask: "What kind of treasure are we storing up?"
It's easy to think destructive words only come from other people. But let's be honest. You and I are just as capable of speaking harm. That’s why we need to pray that God help our words not to be venom. Help them to heal, to comfort, to bring peace. But that begins with what we let grow in our hearts.
Maybe what we need is a different kind of plan of attack. Not to fight evil with more evil, but to stop it at the source. Retaliation doesn’t heal anything. It multiplies the very thing we're asking God to deliver us from.
So, instead, let’s choose a different strategy. Speak from a heart filled with good treasure.
Stay blessed...john | 
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