To Speak or not to Speak

I have a big mouth. I know I do, and everyone else knows it also. I'm terrible at thinking before I speak, and it's come back to haunt me more than a few times. I've been reflecting on this recently...how I often times just let the first thing that comes to my mind fly out of my mouth, and how often the instant I say something, I know it's the wrong thing to say. This is a reflection of two problems of the heart.

The first problem is the problem that I don't have enough respect and love for others around me to think about if someone I'm saying will upset or hurt them before I say it. I should be better at thinking through a situation, assessing what I want to say, and then saying it. Of course, even then I'm likely to make mistakes occasionally, but when I just say something because I don't think it through first, that's showing a lack of compassion and care for other people, which is not a good thing by any means.

The second problem is the fact that I have a sinful heart and a sinful mind, and sometimes things enter my mind that shouldn't be there at all (said or unsaid). I think all sorts of things that I ought not to think (for various reasons), and the reason that I do this is because I am selfish and sinful. It is much easier to reform actions than it is to reform the mind and the heart. But if the mind and the heart remain unchanged, our actions will almost always revert. That is why it is important that I continue to pray for God to continually regenerate my mind and heart, so I can continually imitate Christ.

Luke