Wise Conversationalists
...speaking the truth in love....
Ephesians 4:15
Recommended Reading
Ephesians 4:25-29
A Chinese proverb says: "A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month's study of books." Let's be that wise person. Colossians 3:17 tells us that whatever we do in word, we should do in the name of the Lord Jesus. In other words, we should speak as Jesus would on all occasions. What we say should always be true, and our words should be lovingly motivated and delivered. Speaking the truth without love is harshness. Speaking in love without truthfulness is hypocritical. We don't have to say everything we think, and we don't have to have the last word in every conversation. A harsh word stirs up anger, so we should rejoice in what stays unexpressed in our minds. Sometimes truth is offered in such a way that it is repulsed by the hearer. The method and manner of expressing oneself matters.
As British writer Dorothy Nevill put it, "The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
The man who lives right, and is right, has more power in his silence than another has by his words.
Phillip Brooks
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