The drama isn't worth it!

The human condition is really getting me distraught, lately.

We base our assessments of something on a very limited knowledge, think little, judge quickly. Jump to defend; quick to offend. Fight bitterly. Make rash statements. Build assumption upon assumption. Think little before we speak. We don't consider. We don't chew on things. We don't even guess whether there might be another side. We speak as though we speak privately (forgetting that one day all things come to light.)

Gossip ceaselessly. Hunting for faults. Speak with the intention of provoking. Never stopping to consider that we might be hurting someone.

Looking to poke fun. Assuming we know one's character at a glance. Not actually bothering to know for sure ... Listening to others instead of finding out.

Listen: I'm not of the "don't judge me!" crowd -- the one that resorts to a poorly quoted scripture to excuse any and every sin. I'll discern more boldly than many, and I'm often hated for it. But there is a context for our judgments, and that -- that we not be hypocrites ... "Remove the log from your own eye FIRST," say the scriptures, before you judge a speck in your brother's.

How quickly we resort to ad hominems! "You're a religious biggot / deceitful wolf / stupid girl -- your arguments don't count!" If there is a spine to a statement it's a weak one; often there have no defense at all. Just self-righteous know-better pride. Speaking out of ignorance; upholding it with arrogance.

Craving drama. Craving something to feel important / be pitied / be exalted ....

STOP.

Just think. Really think. Really think before you speak so critically!

Consider this //
-Is it true?
-(Do you have a basis for that?)
-Does it need to be heard?
-Will it encourage another?
-... But are you also guilty?
-Are you willing to be proved wrong?
-Does it glorify God?


The heart is deceitful above all things -- who can know it!

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water." (James 3:6-12)

Oh, brothers ... take care, take so much care of what you say. Wars have been started over less.