Watch Your Tongue!

"He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles" (Proverbs 21:23). Let me tell you who is the "chief offender" of this proverb...ME. But don't laugh and point your fingers at me because some of you also have a little problem here.

With some of us, I don't understand, but it is so simple for us to open our mouth and stick our foot right in it! I think "wouldn't it be nice if words would flow slowly out of our month and we had the ability to grab them and stuff them back in?" Well, unlike the written word, once it is said, it cannot be returned.

I remember when I first became a Christian. I was concerned because I worked in a Steel Mill and was a United States Marine (not profiling here) and it seems like I could "cuss" the wallpaper off a wall. Seems like my vocabulary only offered "four letter" or "offensive" words and phrases. It was like I only knew about a dozen or so words.

I remember when God convicted me of speaking this way and how He helped me recover from this terrible way of communicating. He simply said to slow down my speaking to where I could actually hear the words I was preparing to say, in my head first. Kind of like an old phonograph record player. Some of you remember those things. They had different speeds for different sizes of records (some of you don't even know what a record is). Anyway there was 78 RPM's (revolutions per minute), 45 RPM's and a 33 1/3 RPM"s. Before Christianity I spoke at 78 revolutions per minute and I slowed my speech down to 33 1/3 RPM's and guess what? I was able to control the filth that came out of my mouth. Anyway, that was my method. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways.

Here's what seems important to me. James says, "...the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity;..." (James 3:6) so we know not only from experience but from God's Word as well that the tongue is a "frightful" tool in the hands of a fool. However, James also says in verse 2 of the same chapter, that "...we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well."

The answer? Well, I'm kind of partial to my method, but really, whatever you need to do to keep your tongue "bridled" is what is best for you. Some of us may need to quit speaking all together for a while...Ha Ha! God wants to share in every part of your life as a Christian, and well it should be that way. But He desires to see your respect and love for one another (without cussing them up one side and down the other...LOL).

Speaking at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute isn't so bad. It really keeps the "flames off the tongue".

Dave