A Time To Remain Silent

by HJS

Knowing when to offer advice and counsel and when to listen without comment is a talent that only the wisest possess. God gave us the gift of listening as well as the gift of speaking. There is a time to speak and a time to remain silent.

A letter penned by a friend who spoke for so many reads, "I cannot control myself when it comes to saying what is true to a person. There are times that I am brutally frank. I know the truth is bitter, but my greatest defect is to tell the person what wrong he has done which he ought not to do. Is this unchristian?"

If you find that it is easy to give unsolicited advice, ask yourself a few questions: Do you know when you are wrong? Or do you have to be told by others? Do you appreciate advice or counsel when you do not ask for it? How do you respond when others tell you what you already know?

To the Ephesians Paul wrote, "Speak the truth in love," and it is the last phrase, "in love," that demands we learn when to be silent. All that you say may be true, but when it is not spoken in love, save your breath and the feelings of another. Before you speak, you are the master of your words; but once you have spoken, they become master over you. "By your words," said Christ, "you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:37).

Yes, Lord, help us to learn that there is a time to speak and a time to remain silent, and to know when to do each.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.   ECCLESIASTES 3:1