Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
James 5:9-11
You’ve heard the old saying, “If you can’t say anything nice…”. What bad instruction. If we all actually followed this, the mass majority of the population (including us fine church people) would rarely utter a word.
Merely not speaking negatively should not be our objective, but rather to be conduits of compassion and mercy. In the words of Toby Mac, “speak life”!