In Proverbs 10:19, we learn this: “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise” In other words, as a general rule, lots of words create many opportunities for sin. This admonition from Scripture covers all uses of words, and not just the spoken word. It includes books, articles, speeches, sermons, conversations, talk on the phone, and most recently, it includes . . . texting.
Just as teenagers talked on the phone way too much in the fifties, with their parents worrying about it, so now young people are texting like crazy, and the parents are worried, and their kids are wondering where all the concern is coming from. The concern arises from a biblical view of the world—where words are many, watch out. Watch your step. And if you resent being urged to watch your step, this is good evidence that you of all people don’t need to watch your step . . . because you already fell down.
You know you are too much of a texting ninja if you can successfully get a message off one-handed, with the phone in your pocket. But there are other indicators, more old-fashioned.
When words are many, sin is not absent. What kind of sin are we talking about? Here is a small sampling. First, simple verbal silliness. The great Puritan Thomas Watson called careless speech “verbal scribbling.” Don’t be a scribbler. Second, flirtation is always pleasant, and always lands you in bigger difficulties than you thought it would. You can pretend that it is not flirtation because it is “just texting,” and besides, he doesn’t have anything in mind at all. Of this you are quite assured. But you think this because you are a teenaged girl, and it is a well-established scientific fact that when it comes to the thought processes and intentions of teenaged boys, young girls are idiots. If you keep this everlasting truth in mind at all times, it will come in handy in surprising ways.
But the most obvious sin connected with all this is the simple matter of honoring your parents. If they are concerned about it, honor would share their concern instead of kicking against it. If they believe there are problems, honor would assume that they can see things that you cannot see. If they believe that you are texting too much, or too carelessly, honor would most likely respond differently than you are currently responding.