When I was a kid, I remember my mom singing the old song, “Oh be careful little feet, where you go … for the Father up above …” And then she would replace “feet” with “hands” and then “eyes” and then “mouth.” Hmm. She would always sing that one while looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
I think today, in the social media driven culture we are in, my mom (if she was techy) would sing … “Oh be careful little fingers what you type …”
Pete Wilson blogged about this guy in Detroit about a guy who worked for a PR firm that was helping run the twitter account for Chrysler and he accidentally tweeted from the Chrysler account thinking he was tweeting from his personal account. On the wrong account he said…
“I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the Motor City yet no one here knows how to f—ing drive.”
Not only was the guy fired immediately, but the next day Chrysler actually dumped the whole agency.
It got me thinking. I know that everyone has a different strategy for their blogs, twitter and facebook. Many people see social media as a platform to get even with people and businesses when they under perform.
I understand that this is a new way for people to gather the latest information and opinions.
However, out of all of my tweets, I’ve never tweeted a negative word about another person, business, company or city that I remember (I’m sure someone will take the time to actually go through all of them and prove me wrong).
It’s not that I haven’t thought it…I just haven’t tweeted it.
- I’ve been frustrated at certain restaurants.
- I’ve been angry with the service of certain airlines.
- I’ve wanted to burn down a few hotels with a nasty tweet.
- I’ve thought about firing off a passive aggressive tweet or two when someone ticks me off.
But I generally try to refrain.
There is a certain weight to our words.
Proverbs 15:4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
I would also say the “blog” or the “twitter” or the “facebook” that brings healing is a tree of life.
There is an element of power in our words and it’s not accidental. Our Creator has shaped our hearts and souls to be impacted by the words of others. It’s part of your design.
I’m not even going to pretend to understand this spiritual principle, but you certainly can’t ignore it. The words that come out of our mouth or through our typing fingers float through the air and land on souls impacting the course and direction of their life.
GOD HAS DESIGNED THE HUMAN SOUL WHERE YOUR WORDS WILL EITHER DESTROY OR BUILD UP ONE ANOTHER.
It’s a free country. I love that you can tweet whatever the heck you want to. Just don’t ever think that your words don’t have an impact.
They do.
And more than you could ever imagine.
Have you ever found yourself wishing you could take some words back?
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