Little Fires Everywhere

Recently, Clay wrote a post about being fire FIGHTERS as opposed to fire STARTERS (if you haven’t read that you should go check it out here because it is timely and amazing). 

But I have a confession to make: I don’t like writing or talking about words and the harm they can cause because this is what I believe I am worst at.

That’s right, W O R S T. 

My words have gotten me into trouble more times than I can count. Whether it is saying something that I shouldn’t, speaking before I give thought to what I am going to say, or just talking too much.. 

Words often get the best of me. 

According to Proverbs, words can create fires.

And if you are like me, sometimes we can look behind us and see that there are little fires everywhere. (No, I haven’t seen the show but the title also works well here). 

Words are powerful. 

They have the power to bring death or bring life. Spark war or spark revival. Destroy or heal. 

Just like fire can burn down an entire area or bring warmth and life to a family, words can be powerfully destructive as well as powerfully life giving.

Because the truth is: Our greatest gifts can also be our greatest curses. 

So how do we avoid creating little fires everywhere?  

1. Turn on your filter

Throughout scripture we are called to be wise. We are told to ask for wisdom if we don’t have it and God will grant it to us freely. This is the filter we need to use before we speak: the filter of wisdom. Ask yourself - Is this kind to say? Is this beneficial? Is this necessary? Could saying this cause harm? These are the unconscious or conscious questions we need to be asking ourselves before we speak. Filtering our words can help us from accidentally setting little fires everywhere. 

2. Turn off the hurry 

Have you ever been talking so fast that you hear yourself saying things you did not mean to say? Whether it’s a word you don’t like to use or information that isn’t supposed to be spread, that is a bad feeling. Immediate regret. We need to learn to pause before we speak. Whether it is a breath, a beat, or maybe even saying the phrase “Hold on, I need to think about if this is okay to say before I say it.” Maybe even say it out loud. It’s worth it. Don’t let your pace of speech be the reason you are setting little fires everywhere. 

3. Turn away from yourself 

A big reason that we say things we shouldn’t is because are being selfish. We can get into some major fire hazard zones when we are only thinking about ourselves. When we are trying to impress someone or get something or be perceived in a certain way, we often say what we need to say despite the fire-y consequences. We need to turn our eyes away from ourselves and be more focused on honoring others.  To honor someone means to show them that they are important to you. How different would our speech be if instead of looking at ourselves, our goal was to honor others? 

We are in this together and we can help others be at ease by not starting little fires everywhere. 

 “Lord, give me wisdom to know what to say, what not to say, and when to say it.”