Before You Hit Send

Think about the last text thread that went completely sideways. You typed something fast because you were frustrated. You hit send. And three seconds later your stomach dropped because you realized you said it wrong, or you said too much, or you said the exact thing that was going to make the situation ten times worse. And then you spent the next two hours trying to undo what took three seconds to create. Apologizing, clarifying, explaining what you “actually meant.”

James says in chapter 1, verse 19, to be quick to hear and slow to speak. And slow to speak sounds really nice in a sermon. It is an absolute war zone in real life.

What if the next time you feel that rush of “I need to say something right now,” you just set the phone down for five minutes? Go get a glass of water. Walk around the block. Not because you’re a pushover. Not because nothing matters. But because most of what feels urgent in the moment isn’t actually urgent, and most of what you say in a hurry is going to cost you more than the thirty seconds it would have taken to slow down.

James isn’t asking us to be passive. He’s asking us to be disciplined enough to listen before we speak. Because the Father of lights is steady and generous and in control. And if that’s true, you can afford to take a breath before you hit send.????????????????