Taming The Tongue

Am I the only one who struggles with this?

It's my number one battle.

Taming my tongue.

Ouch. It's not fun to admit it; to just put it out there. But it's the truth.

I can have a vicious tongue and when I get mad or upset I can let it out lash out at the people I love the most.

A lovely trait that my good ole Dad passed down to me.

 A temper and a tongue.

And in the moment it almost feels good to say something that you cuts deep to the person you are so mad at. That's messed up, I know. But that's flesh for ya. That's the part of me that is not cute or fun loving, the part of me that I'm not so proud of... that's the part of me that I oh so desperately need to work on-- the part of me that I need to allow the Lord to change.

The first step is admitting, right?

There is a lot in scripture about this; words that I can hide in my heart to battle against my flesh when the desire to lash out rises up. Because that's the only way I can overcome- by allowing God to take over where flesh has ruled for so long.

 

James 1:19-20 

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

 

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

 

Proverbs 15:4 

A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

 

Matthew 12:33-37 

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

 

Wow. Those hit home.

I want my conversation, in public and most importantly in the private of my home, to

GIVE GRACE.

I want to be known by my fruit- and I don't want it to be rotten stinky fruit, that's for sure.

 

Those are great, but I think the most convicting and in-your-face verses regarding this subject are found in James 1 & 3.

Check it out.

 

James Chapter 1:

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

 

James Chapter 3:

³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

 

 

I hope you took the time to read those verses. I know when there is a lot of scripture it's easy to skim, but it's well worth it to take the time to soak up each word of these. James wasn't joking around. To say if we don't control our tongue then our religion is worthless. Worthless!

Ouch.....

It also says that no human can tame the tongue...

Well, thank goodness for Jesus!

 

My prayer today is that he would transform what comes out of my mouth- and start by changing my heart. If I fill my heart with his word, delight in Him instead of focusing on worldy disappointments, etc. the overflow will naturally be GRACE instead of FILTH.

 

Where do you struggle?

In snapping at your spouse, gossiping with friends, being critical instead of encouraging?

If the words that come out of our mouths aren't bringing grace, then we must examine our hearts.

 

I'm definitely examining mine today. I pray that we all allow the Lord to transform our hearts so that the overflow of it begins to GIVE GRACE to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29).