Major Theme: Tame the tongue; do not be double-minded
Action: Only speak when spoken to, and have completely positive responses.
Lessons Learned: When I told my best friend about this experiment, she laughed hysterically at me. Then, kind of switched her tone and said, “You are giving up eating AND speaking?”. Implying, “Should we be concerned about you?”. It. Was. Awesome.
Alright, serious-face now. In our world, words are cheap and flow so freely without hesitation. We say things we don’t actually mean, set expectations that we don’t uphold, and “praise and curse out of the same mouth.” James 3:10. Funny example: A friend was telling us how she caught herself jamming out to worship music in her car, then semi-yelling at some guy in traffic, then immediately switching back to worshiping. How true is that for us all? (sidenote: the only people who actually see your ichthys and college bumper stickers are the ones you cut off in traffic. Not the best marketing technique.)
A few relevant Proverbs:
“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” –Proverbs 17:28
“A gossip betrays a confidence, so avoid a man who talks too much” –Proverbs 20:19
“Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.” – Proverbs 25:24
This was an eye-opening experiment. A few things I already knew: I extremely value communication, am an avid encourager,and my main love language is words of affirmation. It also wasn't news that I'm verbally expressive, an auditory learner, and a collaborator. Embarrassingly, it was news how much I actually talk to myself. It became apparent that I recite to-do lists when trying to remember, verbally recap and plan out events, regularly read aloud, sing waaaaaaay more than expected, and actually speak to God. These things were discovered because I caught myself doing them. It happened ALL day, or at least the 25% of the day I was alone.
The remaining 75% of the day was divided into equal timeframes of strangers, acquaintances, and close friends. “Excuse me” and “thank you” were replaced with a nod and a smile. At school, someone would have to ask me for the information I really needed and wanted to tell them. In social situations, as a natural conversationalist, I felt ridiculous and kind of left out. It was, however, insightful to sit back and observe rather than always being in the mix. It was also good practice at being a Biblical woman in regard to responding and following. Tangent: If we expect men to be leaders, then we have to patiently give them the opportunity.
Also, sooooooooo many times things came to mind that typically I would just say without a second thought. Being forced keep them in my head, I sadly realized how often those statements didn’t really benefit, encourage, or educate anyone. And they weren’t glorifying Christ. Convicting moment...
God also used this day both to protect me and to teach me to rely on Him. There were a couple of conversations that flowed well because I was only allowed to respond. I unfortunately slipped up a time or two in those chats, but this day mostly prevented me from over speaking. Specifically, one conversation was a prime moment where less-is-best, and thanks to God it happened on my ‘not talking’ day. However, things were by no means picture-perfect, and this extrovert couldn’t talk about it to anyone! I could not call. Or text. Or email. Or facebook. Or gchat. Or contact first anyone in any form. It was killing me! And, it blatently pointed out that I immediately turn to someone other than the Lord. Skipping ahead to James 5:13 it is clear what we should do,"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." Due to a day without carelessly speaking, the situation resulted in me looking to God the way He designed- and He absolutely provided.
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