Cartoonist Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) said, “Sometimes when I’m talking, my words can’t keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice.”
His words remind us of Solomon’s: “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” (Proverbs 21:23)
Do you want to eliminate some trouble in your life before it happens? Learn to think twice and speak once.
A couple of weeks ago I preached on Ephesians 4:29 here in Rio. After the service, my seminary friend gave me an interesting insight into the wording of this verse in Portuguese.
The English says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.” (NIV) or “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouths.” (KJV) The Portuguese word for unwholesome talk or corrupt communication is torpe — this is an old Portuguese word that is also used to describe the smell of fish gone bad. Also, my friend pointed out, torpe has the same root as torpedo — which means the same in Portuguese as it does in English.
This tells us something about our words. The wrong ones stink — like bad fish. And they have the ability to do great damage, like a missile that explodes upon impact. Our words can do that, if we’re not careful.