By PAT HUTCHENS, A rework of Imitation of Messiah by Thomas A. Kempis—
As much as possible, avoid talking all the time. Whenever possible, avoid getting caught up in arguments and trying to convince people you are right. It is easy to be led in the wrong direction when it comes to talking. How many times have I wished that I had held my peace and not said anything at all. How many times have I actually wished I had not even gone out because I ended up talking too much.
Why is it that we talk and gossip so much, when we seldom stop before we have hurt someone or lost our own sense of inward peace? We like to talk because we inwardly hope to impress others and feel good about ourselves. We sometimes chatter away just for entertainment. When we do talk, we usually talk about two things – things we love and things we hate.
2. What is wrong with talking all the time? Often it serves absolutely no purpose and is vain and useless. The outward benefit we get from talking with others often hinders the inner life with God. We can lose our focus and peace because we are so focused on saying what we think. We must guard ourselves and pray that we don’t waste time in idle chatter. When it is your time to speak, speak about things that edify others. Some people can actually bring a cloud to every conversation by always concentrating on what is bad and what is wrong.
3. Bad habits have to be broken with effort and prayer. There is real profit in watching what we say – to ourselves and to others. We are encouraged in the Holy Scriptures to talk about spiritual things, things that will profit ourselves and others. That does not mean we cannot open our mouths except to talk about God and quote Scriptures, but there is much room for learning when to talk and when not to talk.
A rework of Imitation of Messiah by Brother Thomas A. Kempis
