“Grant, O Lord, that my tongue be not given to evil speaking, nor my lips to deceitful words. Keep me, good Lord, that I neither slander nor backbite my neighbour, but that I may ever speak the truth in love, and so order my words that they may edify and not destroy. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but such as is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Strengthen me, O Lord, that both my heart and my mouth may be acceptable in thy sight.”
—Thomas Becon (1512 – 1567), The Pomander of Prayer
Source: Thomas Becon, The Pomander of Prayer (London: John Day, 1560), 142–43.
Reflection: Where might my speech today need to shift from “corrupt communication” toward words that genuinely “minister grace unto the hearers”?