Chapter 25—Kinds of Negative Speaking
The Most Precious Seeds—Let us be careful what we say. The
seed that drops from one mind into another should be the most precious
seed, not a seed of murmuring and complaint.—
Manuscript 18, 1895
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Wrong Impressions—You cannot be too careful of what you say,
for the words you utter show what power is controlling your mind
and heart. If Christ rules in your heart, your words will reveal the
purity, beauty, and fragrance of a character molded and fashioned by
His will....
The Lord demands that our words be of the very best quality;
that our tongues be truthful at all times. Any vestige of prevarication
is an offense to Him. Every word we speak needs the most careful
consideration, lest it mislead those who are weak in the faith. From the
light which God has given me, I know that by your unadvised words
you have left wrong impressions on the minds of some in Sydney, and
much time will be needed to counteract the effects of these impressions.
What you have thus expressed in words has not been true, but has been
the result of your own imagination. No longer rely on a spurious
spirituality.—Lt 69, 1896.
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A Precious Inheritance—God would have His people, in words
and in deportment, declare to the world that no earthly attractions
or worldly possessions are of sufficient value to compensate for the
loss of the heavenly inheritance. Those who are truly children of the
light and of the day will not be vain or frivolous in conversation, in
dress, or in deportment, but sober, contemplative, constantly exerting
an influence to attract souls to the Redeemer....
God enjoins upon all His followers to bear a living testimony in
unmistakable language by their conduct, their dress and conversation,
in all the pursuits of life, that the power of true godliness is profitable
to all in this life and in the life to come; that this alone can satisfy the
soul of the receiver.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:580, 581
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Pure Lives and Pure Speech—Not one word is to be spoken
unadvisedly. No evil speaking, no frivolous talk, no fretful repining
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