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While on a phone call with a friend (you probably don’t know her, she lives far away), I asked about a mutual acquaintance (who lives almost as far).

“She’s fine,” my far away friend said.

“Oh, good.”

“Yeah, she does well as long as she stays in her lane.”

She immediately followed up with, “Oh, no, I did it again. My husband tells me that sometimes it’s best to just say the first part of what I’m thinking.”

I laughed until I realized that I was sometimes guilty of the same thing – saying too much by going beyond the facts and thinking that people want my opinion. I never regret when I apply my friend’s husband’s advice.

Another filter I’ve used is the guidance given before making a decision is to HALT, and be careful if you’re hungry, angry, lonely or tired (the words that comprise the acronym HALT.) With regards to speech, that ‘angry’ part stops me every time.

And just because I always like to look to God’s Word as the final authority on every subject, two of the dozens of Bible verses regarding speaking are becoming personal goals.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone,” Colossians 4:6. I’d love for my words to always be gracious and have the effect of salt – healing, preserving, cleansing and creating thirst for people to know more about God.

The second verse is Isaiah 50:4, whose words have become a prayer of mine. “The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will.”

May our conversations always reflect God’s will.

Ronny Michel can be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.