Grace in the Mundane
Ordinary Life – Amazing God
The Tongue
Controlling your tongue, is it possible?
The person who can learn to control their tongue, can rule any situation. Never has my loose tongue gotten me anywhere, whether in gossip, in anger, in arguing, or in ugly speech. Never when my tongue has been out of control have I won. There are times that my tongue seems to have a mind of its own. Disconnected from my brain.
There are times when I know I shouldn’t say something, but I open my mouth and say it anyway. Times when I have known in my head not to open my mouth, but I do anyway.
James 3:2 says, “if we could control our tongues we would be perfect, and could also control ourselves in every other way.” On those occasions when I have been able to control my tongue I am in control, control of myself and the situation around me.
James also says in verse 6, “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.” Such a great descriptive phrase, a flame of fire. Uncontrolled a fire doesn’t stay small, it spreads. The tongue is the same way. I might set out to only share a little piece of information, just this one little thing, but once I open my mouth I have gossiped about everything I know, and probably added my own opinions to the situation.
If I am angry, once I say that first sentence then I spew out everything inside. It is like my mouth can’t stop and I have to vomit all the anger out.
James also says, the tongue is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. I hate to even think about how true that statement is. When we open our mouths and speak, our tongues can kill dreams, motivation, hopes, desires, and relationships. The tongue has the power to destroy so much, in a matter of seconds.
Lastly, James says, blessings and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. The words spoken by my tongue can do so much. Rarely have I been mad or sorry for words I put on paper, because I think through, and I control what I write down. I can cross them out, delete, them, or rip them up, but the words that come out of my mouth I can’t take back. So often I have regretted them, especially with the person I love the most. Brett has too often been the target of that deadly poison.
When I learn to control the words that come from my mouth, like I do the words on paper, my life and the lives of those around me are so much better.
God, today let the words from my mouth be blessings and not curses. Let my words be uplifting, not tear down. Let my words be encouraging, not discouraging. Let my words be full of love, not hate. Let my words today be yours not mine
Grace in the Mundane 