What’s In Your Heart?

Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

Lori wrote the mean post about her friend Mary and put it up on social media while she was still mad. “I can’t believe Mary would not invite me to the beach when she asked April,” she told her mom later.

“Honey,” her mom replied, “I know you wished you could have gone too, but her parents told me they only had room for one friend in the vehicle.”

Immediately Lori felt ashamed. She went to take down her post, but it was too late. Mary, April, and several other friends had already seen her harsh words. Lori apologized, but Mary was still hurt.

Social media can be a really good or a really bad thing, depending on how it’s used. Some people use social media to build friendships, encourage others who are lonely, and share about supporting important causes and needs around the world. But others use social media to post mean things, call others names, and even threaten others. It is sad to see some of the destruction that can come from our words posted online.

Have you sometimes wondered why that is? People are often much bolder to say negative things on social media than they would be to say the same things to someone’s face. It’s as if not actually looking the other person in the eye, not recognizing them as a real person, somehow makes people careless about being hurtful.

As girls who love Jesus, we are called to a higher standard, remembering that whatever is in our hearts will come out of our mouths. Does this mean we’ll never have mean thoughts about someone else? No. But it does mean that we can still address what is in our hearts and be careful about the words we speak—in real life and online. Many of us live by this phrase: If I wouldn’t say it to someone in real life, then I shouldn’t put it out on social media. We want to be known as girls who love Jesus and show his love and compassion to others, all coming from a good heart.

Things to Think About

• Have you been in a situation where you spoke negatively about someone else online? What happened?
• How can you be careful with your words when speaking with others (either in person or online)?

DAILY ACT OF FRIENDSHIP

When you feel ready to say something harsh to someone else, first pause and make sure your words aren’t hurtful to the other person.