Do Not Send It Tonight

Nearly everyone has a message they wish they could unsend. It was written fast, it was mostly true, and it was a mistake. James describes the tongue as a small fire that sets a forest alight, and he wrote before anyone could put words in front of a hundred people with one tap. The principle is older than the technology, but the technology has raised the stakes.

Here is a lesson for ordinary weeks. Never send an angry message the same day you write it. Write it if you must. Getting the words out can be useful, and sometimes the act of writing shows you what you actually think. But save it as a draft and go to bed. In the morning, read it again. Most of the time you will delete it or cut it in half. Occasionally you will send it, calmer, and it will do more good than the hot version would have.

The same rule applies to what you say about people who are not in the room. James notes that we bless God and curse his image bearers with the same mouth. Before you repeat something about a coworker, a pastor, a relative, ask whether you would say it with the person standing beside you. If not, it is a spark, and you know what sparks do in July. Silence has never yet started a fire.