Where do hurtful words start, and how can they be stopped?

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Overview

In a recent spy movie spoof, the hero, upon thawing out from decades in a cryogenic deep-freeze, realizes that he has no internal monologue—he’s actually saying out loud every thought that crosses his mind. The movie plays this situation for laughs, as the hero makes inappropriate comments about women and global politics. For most of us, though, the airing of our inmost thoughts would be anything but funny. The Parrotts challenge husbands and wives to examine their self-talk and then work, with God’s help, to clean it up.

Where do ugly thoughts come from? What can we do about them? How can helpful words undo the damage of hurtful ones? These are the questions we’ll be asking and discussing in this study.

Table of Contents

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 19; Romans 7:14–25; Philippians 4:4–9; James 1:19–26; 1 John 1:5–10

LEADER'S GUIDE

    • Identify the Current Issue

    • Discover the Eternal Principles

—Teaching point one: We cannot control every thought in our minds or every feeling in our hearts.

—Teaching point two: Sinfulness is an explanation, not an excuse.

—Teaching point three: The best defense against hurtful words is a good offense.

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