Bite Your Tongue

Have you ever heard the saying, “I would if I could, but I can’t so I won’t”? That’s what it feels like to try to be a good Christian most days when it comes to holding my tongue. Whether it is idle chatter, complaining, being drawn into a disagreement with my teenage son, or simply airing my views on whatever, it seems that even on the good days, my mouth still gets tempted to and often does assert itself in ways that I wish it hadn’t. In my head, I know I should just bite my tongue, but somehow, there it goes again! Why is it so difficult to keep our mouths shut?

James 3:2 says “For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way”.  Wait…. Did James really say “if we could?”  Does that mean that we can’t?! James goes on to say in verse 8 that “no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.”  Well, Amen and Hallelujah! We are off the hook then!  James said we can’t control our tongues, so I guess we can just continue on speaking our ideas, opinions and truths whenever, wherever & however…since the bible says we can’t control our tongues.  

Not so fast.  Another closer look at Chapter 3, Verse 2 with a different emphasis sends a very different message. “For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way”. James knows that we can not. He knows that our tongues, or better–our words whether spoken into the air or unleashed through our fingertips–can not be controlled by our own will or self-control. It is only through the filter of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God the Father that we are able to tame those “evil”,  “poisonous” firestarters attached to our faces.  

Prayer:  
Jesus, we ask for your Holy Spirit daily, to guide us in evaluating our thoughts, feelings and beliefs with your perspective so that each and every word spoken, or written, passes through the kingdom filter. We humbly ask that you handpick our words: steering us towards nothing more and nothing less than edifying, restoring, guiding, and healing. In Your mighty name, we pray.