It’s crazy how much time we spend repairing and cleaning up the mess made after someone speaks or writes something that they wish they could take back. I read that Ursula Le Guin, who was an Author, kept this saying hanging in her office as a reminder to herself before she spoke or wrote:

• Is it true?
• Is it necessary or at least useful?
• Is it compassionate or at least unharmful?

How many times would things just be better in our companies or organizations if everyone followed these three simple principles?  A lot!  It might be worth thinking about printing and making a small sign with her three questions for everyone’s desk, cubicle, or wherever the laptop and/or phone reside.

Paul’s letters to the churches are filled with this type of good and practical advice and very much focus on the truth being the most important of all.  Somehow, we have decided that the truth can be arbitrary and we have gotten tired of calling out those who don’t tell us the truth.  Being keepers and accountants of the truth is part of the counter-culture of being a Believer.  We must be willing to stand for and defend the truth.  Which means also not passing along untruths ourselves!  It is what and who we are called to be.  And at the same time we can ask ourselves the above three questions before we speak or write.

Reference: Proverbs 23:23 (New Living Translation)