"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." — Proverbs 10:19
Social media has multiplied our words beyond anything Solomon could have imagined. In his day, your words reached the people in your immediate circle. Today, your words can reach millions. And every word is permanent. Screenshotted. Shared. Weaponized.
Solomon says in the multitude of words there is no lack of sin. That means the more you talk, the more likely you are to sin with your words. And social media has created a multitude of words like never before. Tweets. Posts. Comments. Stories. DMs. Replies. We're producing more words in a day than our grandparents produced in a week.
And all those words are getting us into trouble. Because we're posting in anger. Commenting without thinking. Tweeting reactions instead of responses. Sharing opinions that should stay private. And every careless word is creating problems.
Here's what social media has done. It's removed the natural consequences that used to restrain speech. In face-to-face conversation, you see the person's reaction. You feel the tension when you say something hurtful. You experience immediate feedback. But on social media, you don't see the damage your words cause. You just hit post and move on.
And because there's no immediate consequence, we say things online we'd never say in person. We're harsher. Crueler. More judgmental. Less gracious. Because we're not looking into someone's eyes when we wound them with our words.
Solomon's solution is simple. Refrain your lips. Talk less. Post less. Comment less. Not everything needs to be said. Not every opinion needs to be shared. Not every thought needs to be tweeted. Wisdom restrains words.
But our culture celebrates the opposite. It rewards people who post constantly. Who have hot takes on everything. Who never miss an opportunity to weigh in. And the result is exactly what Solomon predicted. In the multitude of words, sin abounds.
Here's my challenge. Before you post, ask yourself: Is this necessary? Is this true? Is this kind? Will this help or hurt? If you can't answer yes to those questions, don't post. Refrain your lips. Or in this case, refrain your thumbs.
The wise person on social media isn't the one with the most followers or the wittiest replies. It's the person who restrains their words. Who thinks before posting. Who values silence over constantly adding to the noise.
In the multitude of words there lacks not sin. Social media has given us unlimited capacity for words. But it hasn't given us wisdom to handle that capacity. And until we learn to restrain our lips, our words will keep getting us into trouble.
Let's pray: Father, we post too much and think too little. Teach us to restrain our lips. Help us to speak less and listen more. Give us wisdom about social media. Protect us from the sin that comes with too many words. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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