The Power of Silence: How Speaking Less Can Benefit You

Focus on the Family with Jim Daly

Focus on the Family

Kids & Family, Relationships, Society & Culture, Parenting

4.8 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cancel culture has prompted many Christians to regularly voice their opinions for fear of being silenced. Some obnoxiously vent on every issue, regardless of their knowledge of that subject (or lack thereof). Pastor Ted Cunningham explains that the Bible calls us to a restraint that adds influence and power to our voices, and he’ll also help us discern when it IS time to speak up.

Visit our online store and purchase a CD of today's program for yourself or to share with a friend. Hear Pastor Ted’s story of how verbal restraint allowed the Holy Spirit to work in a young man’s heart on a trip to Alaska.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, Pastor Ted Cunningham explains how exercising restraint,
0:10.4	when it comes to airing your opinions, can actually give you more influence.
0:15.3	Bring your best, your influence, your words, and your energy. Bring your best to what matters most. That's why
0:26.1	restraint is so important. Welcome to today's show. I'm John Fuller. You know, John, Ted is
0:32.5	one of our favorite guests here because he does such a great job of combining humor with biblical truth.
0:40.0	And today's message will be no exception. Ted is the founding pastor of Woodland Hills Family
0:45.0	Church in Branson, Missouri. And he's also a prolific author and a part-time comedian. He and his
0:51.9	wife Amy have been married for over 20 years and have two grown children.
0:56.8	And Ted was recently here on our campus to speak to our staff. What a joy. We all had a great time
1:02.4	getting to spend some quality time with him. Here now is Ted Cunningham on today's episode of
1:07.8	Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. One of the things I'm learning in marriage, but not just marriage, in my parenting,
1:16.6	and in all of my relationships, online, in the workplace, is how to practice restraint.
1:25.1	How to restrain my words.
1:31.0	Christians are scared of this word, I think, today,
1:38.4	because they think restraint and they think we're being silenced, or cancel cultures coming after us, or we think of the silent treatment. That's not at all what we're going to talk about
1:43.4	today. We're talking about restraining our words and actually giving our words more power.
1:49.8	In Proverbs 1821, we read, the tongue has the power of life and death.
1:57.2	And those who love it will eat its fruit. We live in a world with a lot of noise,
2:03.6	and people want you to add your voice to every topic and issue of the day.
2:09.6	People want you to chime in and state your beliefs or opinions,
2:13.6	and then you're misunderstood or misrepresented.
2:16.6	The cool thing today is you can have an
	...

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