Daily Devotional – 6/29/18 “Tame your tongue!”

On my ride to work, I pass this church whose sign I usually look at to see their weekly message. This morning, it says, “Only speak if you make the silence better,” or something close. Anyway, this statement is the absolute truth. I have said it before and I will said it again, if the words you speak are not spoken to help, encourage or push someone in the right direction, HUSH. See, your mouth has the ability to speak criticism, counsel, calmness, cheer, comfort and compassion. But that same mouth can also callously communicate complaints, commotion, calamity, captivity, carnality and condemnation. What are you speaking? If your words do not make the silence better, swallow them. Do you understand the power of your tongue? Bible shares in James 3:6, “And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” I find it quite strange yet peculiar that there is one muscle in our entire body that can ruin our lives, if it’s not properly controlled. Can we really tame it though? When the bible continues in James 3:7-8 saying, “People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.”

However, to answer my own question, YES! Yes, we can tame our tongue for tame is defined as willing to cooperate. So, we definitely can. We can tame it the same way we tame the parts of our body we don’t like with spanx, compression garments, girdles, extra shirts and waist trainers. Yep, we can tame it the same way we tame our hair, on bad hair days. Certainly, we can tame it the same way we tame our actions when we’re on other folk’s job. Sure can, we can tame it the same way you tame your speed when you see a police car. It can be tamed, if we want it to be. How do I know? Go in the same room with your grandma and see if you don’t. You have the ability to tame your tongue, if you wanted to so stop being quick to spout off advice, if nobody asked for it. Stop inserting yourself into conversations you were not invited. Stop being the one to always tell people how they should control their house, even if yours is in good standing, if they didn’t inquire on how you did it. Stop telling people how to control their children, if they didn’t seek your advice. In other words, tame your tongue. Why? Because bible says in Proverbs 21:23, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”