When someone says or does something that irritates you, what comes out of your mouth? Unfiltered speech that stings, or carefully chosen words spoken according to the "law of kindness"? We are at great risk of picking up the infections of the culture, including the tendency to open the mouth with unedited harshness.

If your companions, electronic or "in real life" are mouthy and careless, you will be influenced by them. But if your role models are biblically sound, that beautiful soundness will become an admirable pattern for you. The best companions are God-fearing ones, as it says in Psalm 119:63: "I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts."

This episode is an excerpt from Apply: Living What We Learn. Day 31 examines "the law of kindness." People who have learned how to apply this kindness to the way they communicate are precious, encouraging, and rare. 

"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." (Proverbs 31:26)

Get your copy of Apply here: Apply: Living What We Learn--A 31-Day Devotional by Francie Taylor