I don’t know about you, but I put my foot in my mouth so much there should be the words ‘size 10’ tattooed under my tongue. It’s not about just saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but about those dreadful little white lies, exaggerating the truth, and even, do I dare say it? Gossiping! When it comes to holding my tongue, it’s a wrestling match I’ve lost time and time again over my short forty-five years. Why is taming the tongue so hard to do?
The Bible has a lot to say about the tongue and we find a mouthful of information in James 3:
“We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.”
I live on a quarter horse ranch and time and time again we’ve “broke” horses by putting a rein in their mouths and teaching them obedience. It takes a lot of time, patience, and perseverance. At first, the horse pulls its head down trying to loosen the pressure in his mouth. Then, if that doesn’t work, he “shakes” his head and tries to decrease the pressure by flailing its head back. And if that doesn’t work, frequently they’ll buck you right off their back. All this happens in a matter of seconds, so for the rider, there’s not a lot of time to mess around before you end up taking a trip via air, landing on the hard ground shaking your head and wondering what happened. The trainer will go through this process time and time again until something crucial occurs: the horse submits to the “breaking” process and allows the rider to guide it opposed to doing what it wants to do.
The process of “breaking” a horse reminds me of my own battle with my tongue; sometimes it can be a real fight to overcome. I can be just as resistant to being broke as any horse we’ve had on this ranch, trying to find ways to resist the pressure instead of submitting to it and allowing my mouth to be a well-spring of life instead of a stagnant water that brings spiritual death. But the truth is that the tongue can single-handedly be the most damaging part of the body if not under the direct control of the Lord. James 3:5 says, “…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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”
Verse 9 goes on to share the conflicting struggle that goes on: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
One of the great things about the Bible is that it doesn’t keep you hanging. It corrects a behavior, then generally outlines what is expected of us. Such is the case in this chapter. While the author refrains from going into great detail about how our tongues can hurt other people, he does go on to talk about ways to keep peace in the body, alluding to the fact that the tongue causes chaos and separation amongst the body. If we take verse 17 and look at the standard set for our tongues, we can clearly see where the opposite would cause disharmony in the Body of Christ:
“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 raise a harvest of righteousness”.
There is only one way to get control of an out-of-control tongue, and that is in submitting (instead of resisting) the prompting of the Holy Spirit during those moments that we find ourselves with the proverbial match in our hands ready to set fire to a situation. In preparation of those moments, we can pray and ask the Lord for His strength, wisdom, words and Spirit every time we open our mouths. My prayer for all of us is that we will always be a part of the solution in the lives of those we come across and not part of the problem, that we will be well-springs of fresh water and not irritating salt water, that we will be those who build up the church and not tear it down, for it is the peacemakers who sow in peace and raise a harvest of righteousness which is Christ like.
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