Guest Post by Ray Kingrea of Tree of Life Ministries
Pastor Kingrea writes “The Journey” posts daily via his Facebook page. Follow him on Facebook here.
The JOURNEY – BIG MOUTH – James 3:8 (TEV) But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison.
I’ve seen some people do a pretty good job at it, but I’ve never known anyone to be perfect at absolute control of their tongue. If anyone says they do, it’s a lie; because for anyone to say that would make the Word a lie.
Occasionally it just happens. You say something that you didn’t mean it like you said it, or you say something you meant not to say at all. Then there are some people that know exactly what they’re saying and the poison of words injects it’s deadly venom into the heart or spirit of someone’s life.
Why do we so struggle with controlling our tongue? Why is it so hard to stop such a small little member of our body? It’s because we can’t control our thoughts and emotions. Thoughts and emotions are so connected that we usually end speaking before we think. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts and emotions, we’ll do a much better job at controlling our Big Mouth. The tongue is merely an extension of what we’re thinking or feeling. Control the thought and the emotion, and you’ll do a much better job at controlling the tongue. It’s better to use our Big Mouth to praise than it is to put down. When you can’t tame the tongue let the Holy Spirit tame your thoughts and emotions.