“Talk is cheap” — how often I’ve heard and said that in my lifetime!

I know it means that deeds carry more weight than mere boasting.

But this morning I think of it this way . . . .

Since speaking is so easy and costs me so little, why do I not use it more often to encourage, bless, and build up others?

With my words I could doctor those around me:

“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health” (Proverbs 12:18).

Let me have the tongue of the wise!

I don’t want to be one with piercing, slashing, stabbing words.

“By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 11:11).

I read the first part of that verse and wondered as I have before: What good have I done for my community?

OK. I’m a good neighbor. I’m a law-abiding citizen. I don’t litter. So I do make some positive contributions to the community.

But it seems I should be doing more.

How can I bless my community and make it better?

We live in the country, by the way, and have no right-next-door neighbors.

I wonder what answers God will show me.