Adding Words

Have you ever said something and had someone else take what you said and twist it a bit? Maybe they added a few words you didn't say? Since I talk for a living, I'm often accused of saying things I didn't say. Read this email I received last Friday.
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Dear Barbie,
My wife, myself, and EVERYBODY I know that watches you on the weather agree you do a good job forecasting the weather. We just hate hearing YOU tell us how good you are. When you say, "If you had been watching last night" or "It rained south of I-20 just like I TOLD you it would last night". That makes everyone think that YOU think your superior to all of us. Well your not. Please stop gloating about we SHOULD have been watching last night. If we want to watch, we will. Sometimes we have other things to do besides watching your weather forecast. Therefore we may miss the forecast and really don't want to hear YOU tell us we should have watched last night and for us NOT to complain about the weather if we didn't watch last night. ----Sincerely, Terry Smith
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Yes, at times you will hear me refer to the forecast from the night before. But I've never gloated about how superior I am. When I've said, "If you were watching last night, you were prepared for today's rain" or "it rained in the areas today that were expected to see rain, but you knew about that because you watched last night", those comments aren't aimed at tooting my own horn. They are, however, to encourage viewers to stay on top of the forecast by tuning in to WLBT. I know people have other things to do and may miss the forecast, but I want to encourage them to watch WLBT when they can so they are prepared for the day's weather. I have never told viewers "NOT to complain about the weather" if they didn't watch. (I don't know where that one came from.)

I noticed adding words to things people say happened in the first book of the Bible. You know the story of Adam and Eve. God puts the two in the Garden of Eden and tells them in Genesis 2:16, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Then Eve is tempted by the serpent (Satan) and Eve said in Genesis 3:2, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden but God did say, 'You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" Notice, God did NOT say that. God told them not to eat from the tree; He did not tell them "you must not touch it". Eve added that. So I guess you could say, God was the first to be accused of saying something He didn't say.

Satan loves to put words in our mouth. The mouth is his biggest tool used to bring shame and rejection to other people--and he uses us to speak it for him. So before we speak today, think about it. Are these words true or have I inferred something or added to them? Worst yet, is Satan using me today to bring someone else down?