We Christians sometimes speak as if we have a license to say mean things about people when they aren’t present. It’s as if we think our words are not offensive if we end the comment with the phrase, “Bless their heart!”

We have all heard people make cutting remarks like this: “Poor thing! She tried to bake a decent cake for the bake sale…bless her heart!” “He’s not a bad guy. He just can’t seem to stay sober long enough to keep a job anywhere…bless his heart!” “She sure does date a lot of different men…bless her heart!”

If we really wanted to bless people’s hearts, maybe we could start by guarding our tongues and not saying mean things behind their back.

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4).