Did I email that!?

Sending and receiving emails are done almost without thought now. They are almost as easy and automatic as simply having a conversation with someone.

I recently had a friend send me an URGENT email. Stating to please delete the previous email she had sent, before I read it. Fortunately I had not read it and went in and deleted the email. I did see the subject line but didn't think much of it. She was very open in telling the reason to delete the email. She had forwarded it to everyone in her address book, including her daughter. Her daughter called her on the content of the email, she felt it was very un-Christlike and that she shouldn't be forwarding it on. It touched my heart that she was so humbled by her daughters chastisement. Later in the day I received the same forward from another Christian friend, I recognized the subject line. I deleted it without reading but thought about my friend and her daughter's courage. I have to be honest, I am pretty sure had I read the email, it wouldn't be too bad, this friend is one of the most Christlike people I know, but still if it was hurtful to one person, it is not worth forwarding.

It is so easy to just forward or send emails without much thought. Are we allowing ourselves to send things we wouldn't normally repeat out loud? Now I have a new commitment to watch the emails I compose and those that are forwarded to me. We need to be diligent in knowing if content is true and remember the carelessness that some people use when they slander or put down another human spirit. Let us all say (email) kind words to each other!