By Gina Caswell Kelly
Have you ever heard something come out of your mouth that you immediately regretted? Show of hands? If you did not raise your hand, you probably need to raise your awareness level. I am sure we have all said things that we regretted later, if not immediately.
The scripture I sent in my scripture text this morning was from Psalm 141. “Set a guard over my mouth Lord; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” And I will have to tell you, I got more than just a few messages back that simply said, “Ouch!”
Why is our mouth so hard to control? In James, he writes, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 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. 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. 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.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
James devoted six verses in his letter to this topic. The mouth or the tongue is hard to control. So, how do we control it? Well, James goes on in his letter and tells us to seek wisdom from above. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
If we make peace our goal each day, our mouths will be much easier to control. If we seek after God’s wisdom to start each day, and truly do ask Him to place His hand over our mouths, only words of love and His Words will come out of our mouths. And, as His kids, don’t we really and truly only want His Words leaving our mouths?
Stay away from idle gossip that serves no good. Steer clear of just spouting off the first thing that pops into your head. If you don’t know the facts, keep your mouth closed. If it doesn’t directly affect you, keep your lips silent.
Seek Godly wisdom daily, and truly do ask Him to place His hand over your mouth. It ll definitely make a difference!
