Kinds of Negative Speaking
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“As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is
the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am not I in sport?”
Proverbs 26:18, 19
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Closely allied to gossip is the covert insinuation, the sly innuendo,
by which the unclean in heart seek to insinuate the evil they dare not
openly express. Every approach to these practices the youth should be
taught to shun as they would shun the leprosy.—
Education, 236
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Judicial Oath—I saw that the words of our Lord, “Swear not at
all,” do not touch the judicial oath. “Let your communication be, Yea,
yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” This
refers to common conversation. Some exaggerate in their language.
Some swear by their own life; others swear by their head—as sure as
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they live; as sure as they have a head. Some take heaven and earth
to witness that such things are so. Some hope that God will strike
them out of existence if what they are saying is not true. It is this
kind of common swearing against which Jesus warns His disciples.—
Testimonies for the Church 1:201
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