In elementary school there was a kid who did a lot of annoying things. He would slap people in the back of the head for no reason or pull a girl’s ponytail and run away.

Other kids would inevitably chase him or call him names. In response he would shout out the well-known playground rebuttal: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The idea behind it that statement is this. Punches and bats may leave a bruise, but not words.

But, of course, it’s not true. We all know that words can in fact hurt, and often in ways that are worse than fists or bats. Just ask the child who was frequently told they would never amount to anything, or the teenage girl who was the subject of horrible gossip. It got so bad she considered suicide.

Over the next few devotionals we’re going to talk about the power of words. Some of the topics will be fairly obvious. Others won’t be.

Today’s focus is on what we don’t say—and how verbal self-control is often a gift. There are times when not saying something is wiser than saying something.

A church father once said: “I have carried a stone in my mouth for three years, in order to learn how to be silent.” Wow, talk about someone who is committed to being careful and deliberate with their words!

Perhaps that church father knew James 1:19-20 well: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” There are times when we speak from a place of anger (when we should have remained silent), and there are other times when our thoughtless words create anger in others. In both cases, “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

So let’s all put some stones in our mouths. Just kidding! 

Even still, let’s be careful and deliberate. There are times when wisdom is found in what we don’t say, not just in what we do.

Notes and extra content:

–“How can our spoken words beat back the powers of darkness?” Click here. Sermon. January 26, 2025.

–*As in: Henry Suso, The Life of the Servant (James Clarke Lutterworth, 1990), 106.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.