Careful Little Lips What You Say
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
One of the biggest challenges in my life is my tongue. Sometimes I let it carry me away and get me into trouble. If I’m honest - there are many words that have escaped my lips that shouldn’t have. This especially seems to happen in my marriage. If I am totally open and honest with you, I must admit that too many times I use my words to tear my husband down instead of building him up. This is an area where I am desperate for God’s intervention, and I pray daily to speak words of life and encouragement to him and to everyone else around me.
I don’t think I’m the only one. I think there is an epidemic in the Church of people who disregard God’s words for us in this very important area.
I hear people say in a bragging manor that they have no filter - that whatever comes to their mind, they speak it out. And these are Christians saying this. Is this really something to be proud of? Shouldn’t we be ashamed instead? Our words are an overflow of what’s in our hearts (Luke 6:45) so when our words are ugly, it’s an indicator that there’s something in our hearts that we need to surrender to God.
So whether married or single, serving in full-time ministry or in the workplace (which is also a ministry, by the way), our words are a representation of who we are inside. If we can’t or won’t bridle our tongues, then what we do for the Lord is useless.
Somewhere along the line we have forgotten that the power of life and death is in our tongues. We have forgotten that if we claim to represent Christ, we better be careful and know that we will be held accountable.
Ask God to cleanse your heart from anything that’s not of Him. Ask Him to reveal to you how you can speak life, love and encouragement to those you encounter. There’s enough hate in the world today. God forbid that the Church should be like the world in this way.
My advice to myself and to anyone else who struggles in this area is this:
