Day 25 — What You Post

“Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

— Colossians 4:5–6 (BSB)

Paul wrote these words long before anyone had a phone, but they fit a comment section perfectly.

Think about how much of your speech now happens with your thumbs. Messages, comments, captions, reactions, status updates, voice notes. Words you’d never say to someone’s face become strangely easy to type. A screenshot can travel across your whole school in an hour and stay online for years. And Jesus once warned that “men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36). That includes typed ones.

Paul gives three tests.

Is it gracious? Gracious speech gives people more kindness than they’ve earned. It doesn’t pile on when someone is already being mocked. It doesn’t add the clever, cutting reply that gets the most laughs. Before you post, try asking: Would I say this if the person was standing next to me? Would I say it if Jesus was reading over my shoulder? (He is.)

Is it seasoned with salt? Salt makes food taste better, and in the ancient world it also kept food from going bad. Seasoned words aren’t bland or fake. They have flavour, honesty, even humour. But they preserve rather than rot. Gossip rots. Rumours rot. A pile-on rots. Words that make people feel seen, encouraged or pointed toward what’s true are salty in the best way.

Is it wise toward outsiders? People who don’t follow Jesus are watching how His followers talk. If your profile says you’re a Christian and your comments are full of contempt, the message they receive is not the gospel. On the other hand, a Christian who is consistently kind online, who refuses to join cruelty and isn’t afraid to say something good about Jesus, makes people curious.

There’s also the phrase “redeeming the time.” Paul means making the most of every opportunity. Scrolling can eat hours without you noticing. Some of that time could be redeemed: a message to a friend who’s struggling, a word of thanks, an encouragement to someone who never gets one.

A few habits that help:

• Wait before you hit send when you’re angry. A message written in anger usually reads worse in the morning.
• Don’t screenshot to shame. Private words shared to embarrass someone are a betrayal, even if the original was bad.
• Leave group chats that are built around mocking people, or be the one who says, “That’s not fair.”
• Ask what your profile preaches. Not with Bible verses, but with the tone of everything you share.

“When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19). Sometimes the most Christlike post is the one you don’t make.

Think about it: If someone who didn’t know you read your last fifty messages and comments, what would they guess about Jesus?

Try this: Today, use your phone to bless someone on purpose: send one specific, honest encouragement to a person who probably doesn’t expect it.

Go deeper: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis — written six centuries before social media, it asks why we chatter so much “when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience,” and urges us to speak only when we have something that will build others up. Start with chapter 11, “Avoiding Idle Talk.”

Lord Jesus, You never spoke a careless word. Make my words gracious and seasoned with salt, online and offline. Stop me before I post something cruel, and help me use my phone to encourage people instead. Let the way I talk make others curious about You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.