“You’ve got mail” is an iconic phrase in American culture.
Can you remember when email started? “You’ve got mail” was a wonderful phrase. It meant someone thought of you and sent you a greeting. “Back in the day” you didn’t hear “you’ve got mail” very often.
That’s not the case anymore. Mass marketers and every group imaginable are collecting email addresses and sending thousands of emails.
People often ask how many emails I get a day. My stock answer is “a lot but I don’t want to know how many.”
Because we have instant access and multiple emails per day, we need good Internet etiquette. Our words have the power to bless and the power to curse. As believers, we need to use our words online and in person to bless.
How should we respond to potentially hurtful texts or mail?
First, always wait. Simply because you can send an email or a text immediately doesn’t mean that you should. Give your response time to determine what you should say and how you should write it. ” A word aptly spoken” and words carefully written are truly “like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).
Second, always pray. Shouldn’t Christians pray without ceasing? Shouldn’t we pray in all things? Why is it we think holding a mobile device in our hands suspends the demands of Christ on our lives?
Third, “be a man!” If you have to confront a difficult issue, look people in the eye when you do so. Cowards hit “send” and run. People of courage and compassion are willing to man-up for hard subjects.
Finally, if it makes you feel better, don’t send it. Instead, use the Ephesians test: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
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3 Responses
I agree.
Thank you for providing a place where the walls can come down, or at least lowered a bit to appreciate, pray for other sides. Hopefully, the process of discovery will group us on His Side for His Purpose, Design.
What is written should be to warn, edify, and enlist Believers help as He requires His to Behave. We teach our children to be bold for the Lord, then they grow up and see what it takes to have what others have and the abuse around them. There should be no such thing as a “private” battle in a spiritual war. Yet we ascribe Ephesians 4:31-32 to profane; only to find we have cast our pearls before swine, as we in turn are attacked by the profane we sought to save. “And the band plays on,” as the song of life goes.
“How is that working?” Gestaltism works with or without faith. It works on manipulative design. Just as witnesses become tools for good or evil, so does the question, “How’s that working for you?” Asking the question without determining the goal may leads to a false positive or negative. Looking through that “Glass Darkly” I don’t think was intended to be done alone. Else the word “We” would not be in the quote.
Challenged, go forth and sin no more. Such words only seem to work a benefit on those who acknowledge, confess and repent. Instead the anti is raised by the profane ego. The animal instinct controls such actions. His are called to be above the animals we are to have dominion as shepherds, stewards.
Another sharing of a small sample compilation of empirical data acquired from many data points collected over a long experience in numerous settings.
Thank you!
Blessings.
corrections:
Believers’
profane to the profane (used as a noun)
leads to lead
“The Called” for called
I read somewhere that phones and computers should come with a “think about it button ” that needs to be pressed before the send button can be activated. Sounded like a good idea to me.