Sneak Peek At Zip It pt3
I was just sitting here going over my talking notes for tomorrow and thought it would be cool to give you a sneak peek.
The first two talks of Zip It were about conquering complaining and kicking criticism. (Trust me, it was a lot more fun than it sounds.) The last two weeks we have learned that our words not only affect us, but they also affect others.
Part 3 is going to examine what can be gained by simple strategic silence.
Mom used to always say, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Many times in life we would be better off Zipping It and keeping our mouth shut rather than saying what’s on our mind. When someone wants to “give me a piece of their mind”, I usually think they need all they can get and really should keep it for themselves.
There are times in your life when being silent would serve you well.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
You have the right to remain zipped. Anything you say…
Maybe your life would be better if you would observe your very own “moment of silence” every once in a while. Selah
Excerpt From Zip It
Taken from Zip It Pt1, Conquering Complaining.
Side Effects of Complaining
#1 Inaction
Instead of spending your time, energy and resources doing something that would make the situation better, you spend your time complaining how awful it is. The person complaining about how it can’t be done should not get in the way of the person who is doing it.
“If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
#2 Self Pity
Why did this have to happen to me? My life is so bad. Nothing ever works out for me. Why would I ever expect anything good happen to me? I’ll never get to have that. Complaining will often turn you into a “victim”. Paul and Silas could have complained and felt sorry for themselves.
#3 Tunnel Vision
The more you complain, the more your vision will be tuned to see things in a negative way.
Complaining will warp your perspective.
It’s like the guy who went out to his garage to get his saw and realized it missing. He then remembered that his neighbor’s boy built a ramp for his skateboard the week before. Knowing that the kid must have stolen his saw, he started noticing suspicious behavior. The way the kid walk, what time he left the house, the friends he hung out with… Then a few weeks later he discovered the saw had only fallen behind his workbench, the kid’s behavior suddenly returned back to normal.
Begin to look at the things that you have been complaining about, but look at them from a different perspective. Rather than zeroing in on all of the negative and on all the bad, and God knows you can find that stuff. You don’t have to look that hard, but instead, take a step back and look at the same things that you have been complaining about, and look at them from a different perspective.
#4 Death
If you want to take an an otherwise healthy marriage and kill it, start complaining. Just complaining about everything your wife does. Or at work, start complaining about the moron of a boss you have, that they don’t pay you enough. Or with money, complain about all the bills, how expensive everything is, about your debt…
Mom used to say, “You can have what you say, is that what you want?”
Life and death are the consequences of your tongue.
If you are not fully miserable, let me tell you how you can hate your life. Complain about everything, everything, I mean everything…complain and complain and complain and you will be miserable.
The words are only a symptom of the real issue that takes place in our heart. The heart is the main issue. Your words reveal the condition of your heart. All of us, the words that we speak reveals the condition of our heart.
Matthew 12:34-37 (New Living Translation)
34 …For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 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. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”