Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
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"The voice that bears profound testimony, utters fervent prayers and sings the hymns of Zion can be the same voice that berates and criticizes, embarrasses and demeans, inflicts pain and destroys the spirit of oneself and of others in the process."
Husbands have been entrusted with a great gift of God, and some who would not physically abuse their wives "can break, if not her bones, then certainly her heart and spirit by the brutality of thoughtless or unkind speech." The church condemns physical and sexual abuse, and "we speak against verbal and emotional abuse of anyone against anyone, but especially of husbands against wives."
Wives' "unbridled tongues" can cause their partners to "retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone in the beginning of that exchange could ever have imagined." There should be no place among LDS women for acerbic or abrasive words, gossip, backbiting or catty remarks.
"We must be so careful in speaking to a child" because what the child is told about himself may shape his own perceptions of who he is. Children should not be criticized or compared.
Negative speaking often reflects negative thinking, which is contrary to God's admonition to "be of good cheer" ... our words should be filled with faith, hope and charity.
