A Time to Speak – December 30, 2001
One of the marvelous qualities of being human is the ability to speak. Human speech has such power that a single inspiring voice can influence the minds of multitudes.
The scriptures inform us there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”1 One appropriate time to speak might be when we’re struggling with ill feelings for someone who may have offended us. If we neglect to talk out ill feelings, they tend to build up inside, making the problem worse. “If thy brother shall trespass against thee,” counsels the Savior, “go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”2 Sometimes the most loving thing we can do to strengthen a relationship is simply to speak our heart, gently and sincerely.
An employee felt that his supervisor was mistreating him at work. Although he was uneasy about approaching the supervisor, he decided it might help if they talked. He calmly, graciously expressed his concerns. To his relief, the supervisor took it to heart. Not only did he apologize, but he quickly changed his leadership style. In fact, the supervisor was promoted because of the positive way he began to deal with his co-workers. As they continued to communicate with each other, the employee and supervisor developed a lifelong friendship.
Many differences can be worked out through honest communication in a spirit of genuine love—never with the raised voice of reprisal, but in the higher way acknowledged by Shakespeare when he wrote that “love’s best habit is a soothing tongue.”3
Program #3776
1. Ecclesiastes 3:7.
2. Matthew 18:15.
3. William Shakespeare, “The Passionate Pilgrim,” William Shakespeare: the Complete Works (New York: Dorset Press, 1988), 1248.