Quotes from Karen Ehman

Take the advice I sometimes have to give to myself: Don't say something permanently painful just because you are temporarily ticked off.

The truth is, words are never accidental.

Bruises fade and bones heal, but a scorched heart may take years to mend.

Our words are powerful, and they have consequences.

Listening is more than just being quiet for a moment. It's not just the pause we were talking about earlier. Listening includes paying attention to the whole person, and especially their emotions.

So if we have a mouth problem, in actuality what we really have is a mind and heart issue.

if a person is willing to listen to gossip they are also willing to spread it.

Remember, possessing feelings of anger isn't wrong. What is wrong is when we allow them to fester and then we choose to fight.

Listening requires attending to the other person's heart.

When showering life-giving words on another human, don't just pick the people you know well. Notice the one who least expects to be noticed.

The mouth speaks what the heart has stored.

comments, nasty words, flying criticisms, and awful accusations. We can even use silence as a weapon. When we give someone the cold shoulder, we may hold in our words, but we're spewing out our feelings all the same.

Don't say something permanently painful just because you are temporarily ticked off.

When a family member's behavior threatens to knock the nice right out of us, we can pause. Recalculate. Punch in a different destination for the words now downloading from our brains onto our tongues. We can program them to first stop at gentleness, swing by to pick up respect, and finally — arrive with grace. Then our mouths can utter pleasant words rather than those that are caustic, cutting, and unkind.

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3)

God's Word is both powerful and practical.

God created us with emotions, and anger is one of them. Feeling the emotion of anger is not the problem. The problem is when we let our anger trigger actions that result in wrongdoing.

I need to learn to keep a quiet heart. To trust that if God has allowed an interruption in my day, it serves a purpose. To believe that the time to finish what work I thought needed to be done will be given. To accept that He is diverting me from my 'plan A' to His greater plan.

Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding" (Proverbs 17:28). Yes, sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. We

I want you to get out a nice note card or piece of stationery and write a letter to yourself. Yes. To yourself. In it, encourage yourself with what you have learned from this journey. What do you need to work on? Why do you need to work on it? What relationships are being damaged or precious time and memories lost because of how you interact with those in your life, whether they are family, friend, or even foe? Spend some time thinking about this and then let your pen and paper do the talking.

Listening includes paying attention to the whole person, and especially their emotions. When we really listen, we give careful attention not just to the words a person says but also to the feelings he or she is trying to communicate. Listening requires attending to the other person's heart.

there is a direct correlation between our prayer life and our conversations. Perhaps if we spent more time and energy on our prayer life, we would use our tongues more wisely.

Hearing a heart drop is an art we must lovingly cultivate. It can lead to the most wonderful times of encouragement as we make it our habit to listen and to love.

When we share love with the lonely, the boomerang of blessing lands right back in our lap.