Too Much Talk

When I can force myself to walk/jog, I like to listen to the music on my phone on shuffle. The other day, a song came on that really made me think. It was Civil War by Guns n Roses, and the first line before they even started singing caught my attention.

"What we have here is... failure to communicate."

How appropriate.

In today's society, we do a lot of talking and not enough listening. I know this series is all about sharing my story, and this is my blog and my facebook page is my facebook page...

but we've become a little bit too much about sharing our individual stories.

We listen not to hear what the other person is saying... rather, we are thinking about what we are going to say in response.

I get it, totally. As a socially awkward introvert who struggles to make conversation, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm going to say.

I'm pretty sure that when I was a kid my Mom and Dad wouldn't have believed this, but I don't like to talk...

but I sure do like to use my fingers to talk sometimes.

Talking about things I shouldn't.

Sometimes, talking about people that I shouldn't.

Talking in response to others, even when it's none of my business.

Talking is important. Communication is important. Telling our story is important, too, because so often it's important for others to know that we can relate. We aren't the perfect people you see on your newsfeed. We are all living, breathing, hot messes...

But if we are going to talk, we need to be sure that what we say is worth saying. There's a verse in the Bible that terrifies me on days when I truly sit down and think about it. In His Word, it says we will stand judgment for every idle word we say.

Every single one, y'all.  No wonder eternity is eternity, because I've said a lot of idle words...

So tonight, as I'm finishing up this post and thinking of how poor our communication skills are  in this "selfie" world, I'm thinking of another verse. "Let no corrupt talk come out of you rmouth, only that which is edifying."

May we build each other up, and ultimately build Him up.

That's why we're here, after all.

This is a part of a series using free write prompts provided by Five Minute Fridays. Today's prompt? Talk.