When I taught 5th grade, I had very few rules for my classroom, but the ones I had covered a lot of territory. For instance, “Be respectful” addressed attitude, behavior, and conversation. When a child started to tattle on another, I’d say, “In or out?”, meaning, are you trying to get someone IN or OUT of trouble? I wanted the kids to learn to stop and think before they spoke and to choose words that would have a positive rather than negative effect on their classmates. Of course, the kids didn’t know my instruction was scriptural. *wink* As Christians, we have a responsibility to choose our words carefully. Is what we say building relationship or driving a wedge between people? Is our tone encouraging or discouraging to the hearer? Jesus always spoke the truth, but He did so lovingly and always within the bounds of the Father’s will. There’s a simple formula to follow before we speak (or type): Is what I’m saying true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If we can answer no to any of those three questions, then we’ll probably be more inclined to promote peace by remaining silent.
