A Jesuit Viewpoint of the First Toltec Agreement, Be Impeccable with Your Word

When Don Miguel Ruiz published The Four Agreements, he drew on ancient Toltec wisdom, a tradition that sees words as magic, capable of casting spells of freedom or harm. His first and most foundational agreement, Be Impeccable with Your Word, asks us to speak with integrity, avoid gossip, and use language to create truth and love.

I can’t help but hear an Ignatian echo in this teaching. Jesuit spirituality treats words as sacred tools, to be used with discernment, humility, and purpose. Both traditions remind us that every word we speak shapes the world.

Truth + Discernment

Jesuit teaching goes further than Ruiz’s invitation to personal integrity. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, encouraged discernment: asking not just Is this true? but Should I say it? How should I say it? When? Being impeccable isn’t just blurting out truth; it’s aligning our speech with love, humility, and timing.

The Jesuit practice of the Examen even includes reflecting on words: Where did my speech build up today? Where did it tear down? Where did I fail to speak when truth or justice demanded it? This self-interrogation keeps us from weaponizing “truth-telling” and reminds us that words are acts of relationship.

The Call to Community

Ruiz frames being impeccable as a personal practice. The Jesuits turn it outward: our words shape community. They taught me that gossip isn’t just bad manners, it’s violence against unity. They urged us to use speech to reconcile, to challenge injustice, to “speak truth to power.” Being impeccable, in Jesuit terms, isn’t just about personal integrity but about contributing to the common good.

“Don’t speak, don’t answer, don’t meditate, don’t do anything without first thinking if that pleases God and serves as an example and edification of your neighbor.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola

Humility and Courage

One of Ignatius’s most challenging bits of advice is to “be more ready to put a good interpretation on another’s statement than to condemn it.” This means being impeccable not only with our own words but with our interpretation of others’ words. It calls for charity, restraint, and, when necessary, the courage to ask: Did you mean what I think you meant?

A Modern Ignatian Takeaway

For those of us who grew up in Jesuit classrooms, “Be Impeccable with Your Word” isn’t a New Age insight; it’s a spiritual discipline. It’s about:

  •        Speaking truth with love, even when it’s uncomfortable.
  •        Refusing to gossip, even when it’s entertaining.
  •        Challenging injustice, even when it’s costly.
  •        Choosing silence when speech would wound unnecessarily.

In other words: living as if every word matters. Because it does.



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