Keep thy speech as clean from all obscenity as thou wouldst thy meat from poison, and let thy talk be gracious, that he who hears thee may grow better by thee. And be ever more earnest when thou speakest of religion than when thou talkest of worldly matters. If thou perceivest that thou hast erred, persevere not in thine error; rejoice to find the truth and magnify it. Study, therefore, three things especially—to understand well, to say well, and to do well.
Suffer not thy mind to feed itself upon any imagination which is either impossible for thee to do or unprofitable if it be done, but rather think of the world's vanity, to condemn it; of death, to expect it; of judgment, to avoid it; of hell, to escape it; and of heaven, to desire it.
Make not a jest of another man's infirmity; remember thine own. Abhor the frothy wit of a filthy nature whose brains having once conceived an odd scoff, his mind travails till he be delivered of it; yea, he had rather lose his best friend than his worst jest. But if thou be disposed to be merry, have a special care to three things (Prov. 23:17; Phil. 4:4): first, that thy mirth be not against religion; second, that it be not against charity; third, that it be not against chastity, and then be as merry as thou canst, only in the Lord.
What trust should a man repose in long life? seeing the whole life of man is nothing but a lingering death; so that, as the apostle protests, a man dies daily.https://gracegems.org/24/practice_of_piety4.htm
Hereupon the carnal professor presumes, that though he continues a while longer in his sin, God will not shorten his days. But what is this but to be an implicit atheist? Doubting that either God sees not his sins; or if he does, that he is not just: for if he believes that God is just, how can he think that God, who for sin so severely punishes others, can love him who still loves to continue in sin? True it is, Christ is merciful; but to whom? Only to those who repent and turn from iniquity in Jacob. (Isa 59:20.) https://gracegems.org/24/practice_of_piety4.htm
Because many nobles and gentlemen are not smitten with present judgment for their outrageous swearing, adultery, drunkenness, oppression, profaning of the Sabbath, and disgraceful neglect of God's worship and service, they begin to doubt of divine providence and justicehttps://gracegems.org/24/practice_of_piety4.htm
Evil company, commonly termed goodfellows - but indeed the devil's chief instruments to hinder a wretched sinner from repentance and piety. The first sign of God's favor to a sinner is to give him grace to forsake evil companions. https://gracegems.org/24/practice_of_piety4.htm