If you’re a football fan (and even if you’re not), you probably saw the post-game interview with Seattle Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman. Sherman made the game-winning play against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, blocking a touchdown pass in the end zone and knocking it into the hands of his teammate to seal a Seahawks victory and earn them a trip to the Super Bowl. After his amazing play, he didn’t mince words in letting the world know that he was the best when interviewed by a reporter on the sidelines. (If you missed the interview, you can see it here.)

Social media blew up with people commenting on how arrogant and brash his words were. And they were! These same words led many people to draw conclusions about the man himself. However, rather than demonize a person for his comments, I think it’s important to reflect on what we can learn from them. Here are three things that Sherman’s interview caused me to consider.

1. What will you do with your two minutes of fame?

   None of us knows when our moment will come — the moment when someone might stick a microphone in our face or put us on a pedestal and ask us to share our thoughts with a wide audience. When that moment comes, how will we respond? Will we use that opportunity to elevate ourselves? To put someone else down? Or will we respond with humility and grace?

2. Be careful of what you say in moments of emotion.

   Our emotions can easily overrun our judgment. While I was in Ghana, a friend told me a folktale that illustrated how dangerous it is to speak in moments of emotion. When you are extremely happy, sad, or angry, take a moment to stop and think before you speak.

3. Words linger.

   Some people online brought up how unfair it is to judge a whole person based on a two minute clip of their life. I agree. And yet, don’t we do that all the time? And the media only encourages this. How many times do they twist people’s words, take them out of context, or misconstrue them? And how many times do they succeed in getting others, people like you and me, to jump on that bandwagon? Perhaps that’s why the Bible speaks so strongly about the dangers of the tongue.

There are certain words I’ve spoken that I wish I could take back. Thankfully, I didn’t have a national audience when I said them. If you’re reading this, I imagine that you have probably felt the same at some point. That’s why when we see someone else speak foolishly, maybe instead of being quick to judge we should stop and ask ourselves if we’ve ever done the same. Then we should take that as a reminder to be careful with our words.