As believers, the words we use are to be characterized by letting: “no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). In some interaction with others recently, I’ve noticed my own words are rather snarky. I confessed this to some fellow leaders and they wondered what it meant.

Wiktionary defines snarky as “Snide and sarcastic; usually out of irritation; often humorously.” It’s easy to speak words like this when wronged or when we seem to be more righteous than someone else. We can act as if we are better than our brothers or sisters. This can’t be. Let’s be loving and forgiving towards them, especially when they sin.

As we think this weekend about forgiveness and having a forgiving spirit towards others, let’s wage war on our tongues, seeking to make sure that no corrupting (snarky) talk comes out of our mouths.