Karen Ehman > Quotes

“The truth is, words are never accidental.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Take the advice I sometimes have to give to myself: Don’t say something permanently painful just because you are temporarily ticked off.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Bruises fade and bones heal, but a scorched heart may take years to mend.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Our words are powerful, and they have consequences.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“So if we have a mouth problem, in actuality what we really have is a mind and heart issue.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Listening is more than just being quiet for a moment. It’s not just the pause we were talking about earlier. Listening includes paying attention to the whole person, and especially their emotions.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Remember, possessing feelings of anger isn’t wrong. What is wrong is when we allow them to fester and then we choose to fight.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“When showering life-giving words on another human, don’t just pick the people you know well. Notice the one who least expects to be noticed.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“I need to learn to keep a quiet heart. To trust that if God has allowed an interruption in my day, it serves a purpose. To believe that the time to finish what work I thought needed to be done will be given. To accept that He is diverting me from my 'plan A' to His greater plan.”
― Karen Ehman

“if a person is willing to listen to gossip they are also willing to spread it.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“The mouth speaks what the heart has stored.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Listening requires attending to the other person’s heart.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“God’s Word is both powerful and practical.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Don’t say something permanently painful just because you are temporarily ticked off.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“comments, nasty words, flying criticisms, and awful accusations. We can even use silence as a weapon. When we give someone the cold shoulder, we may hold in our words, but we’re spewing out our feelings all the same.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“God created us with emotions, and anger is one of them. Feeling the emotion of anger is not the problem. The problem is when we let our anger trigger actions that result in wrongdoing.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“When a family member’s behavior threatens to knock the nice right out of us, we can pause. Recalculate. Punch in a different destination for the words now downloading from our brains onto our tongues. We can program them to first stop at gentleness, swing by to pick up respect, and finally — arrive with grace. Then our mouths can utter pleasant words rather than those that are caustic, cutting, and unkind.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3)”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“I want you to get out a nice note card or piece of stationery and write a letter to yourself. Yes. To yourself. In it, encourage yourself with what you have learned from this journey. What do you need to work on? Why do you need to work on it? What relationships are being damaged or precious time and memories lost because of how you interact with those in your life, whether they are family, friend, or even foe? Spend some time thinking about this and then let your pen and paper do the talking.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Listening includes paying attention to the whole person, and especially their emotions. When we really listen, we give careful attention not just to the words a person says but also to the feelings he or she is trying to communicate. Listening requires attending to the other person’s heart.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28). Yes, sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. We”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“When we share love with the lonely, the boomerang of blessing lands right back in our lap.”
― Karen Ehman, Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning. PROVERBS 10:12 – 13”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Repentance is simply agreeing with God about our wrong and then doing an about-face and walking in the other direction, committing the sin no more.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“Marriage is not about our ultimate happiness,” she replied. “That is a lie from the devil. Marriage was made to refine us, to grow our character. It exposes the worst in us so that we see the need for humility, grace, forgiveness, and, most of all, our need for Jesus in our marriage.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep Showing Up: How to Stay Crazy in Love When Your Love Drives You Crazy

“When we read the Bible, we learn. However, when we write out biblical commands in a way that is personal to us, we allow the Word to take root deep within our hearts. This will help us the next time we are faced with a challenging situation and need to use words wisely. When we have trained our brain to recall and apply biblical nonnegotiables, we are equipped to speak, act, and react in ways that honor God.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“I recognize that craving such an outward appearance is utterly prideful. The Spirit reminds me to find my identity in Christ, not in a façade of capability and certainly not in others’ opinions of me. Oh, how difficult this is for an approval-addicted, over-achieving, “gee, I hope she likes me” kind of gal such as I. I must swim crosscurrent and make life choices, not for the crowd, but rather and rightly only—as my Bible-teacher friend Wendy Pope states at the close of all her emails—”for an audience of One.”
― Karen Ehman, Let. It. Go.: How to Stop Running the Show and Start Walking in Faith

“Different isn’t wrong. It’s just different.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep Showing Up: How to Stay Crazy in Love When Your Love Drives You Crazy

“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. (Proverbs 16:2)”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All

“there is a direct correlation between our prayer life and our conversations. Perhaps if we spent more time and energy on our prayer life, we would use our tongues more wisely.”
― Karen Ehman, Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All