Every sea creature, reptile, bird, or animal is tamed and has been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  We praise our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in God’s likeness with it.  Praising and cursing coming out of the same mouth.  My brothers, these things should not be this way.  Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening?  Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers, or a grapevine produce figs?  Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.  James 3:7-12 HCSB

There are many verses in the Bible about the tongue and the need to control it.  But I will admit that I have a great deal of trouble with that one myself.  I am better than I was in years past, but I still have a long way to go.  One thing I have tried desperately to do over the last few years is to make my Sunday mouth line up with my Monday-Saturday mouth.  I will admit that while working in law enforcement that was hard to do.  When you are around people that talk a certain way, it easily tends to rub off on you.

Now one thing that is a pet peeve of mine is two-faced people.  You know the ones I mean.  They are your best buddies when you run into them at Walmart, but as soon as you are gone they are running you down behind your back.  So, how do you think that makes God feel?  We talked the other day about how he knows all, sees all, and hears all.  So how do you think it makes him feel if you are praising him on Sunday and cursing Him on Monday?  Some of us are the sweetest little so and so’s on Sunday, but the devil’s child Monday-Saturday.

And it’s what comes out of our mouth that let’s everyone know where we stand.  Now with social media it can also be whatever we type and post. I fell into this very thing just last week.  I was outraged by someone and lashed out.  I had to apologize.  You see I know that God hears the prayers of the righteous (Psalm 34:17) and that He protects those that dwell in His shadow (Psalm 91:1).  I also know that he turns his face from those who practice evil (Psalm 34:16, 1 Peter 3:12).  I have learned one very important thing lately and this is that I definitely want God to hear my prayers and I never want Him to turn his face from me.  We are told in Isaiah 59:2 that our sin separates us from God.  I never want to be separated from Him either.  I have learned that I desperately need God in my life.

Now knowing all of this I can still tell you that the thing that is most likely to cause me problems is my mouth.  You see, I use my mouth like a sword when I get angry.  All this does is keeps the trouble stirred (Proverbs 15:1).  So when I use my tongue as a sword I have found that it is really not so effective.  Now in Ephesians 6:17 we are told to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit into warfare.  The sword of the Spirit is God’s word. It is the only offensive weapon mentioned in Ephesians 6.  I have learned that when I use God’s words and not my words, it can quickly diffuse a situation.  In a godly person it can help them to realize the error in their ways and help to work things out.  In an evil person it disarms them.

So today you have a choice between two double edged swords.  You can use your own tongue to separate you from God and destroy your witness, or you can use God’s words to fix a problem or to disarm evil.  The choice is yours.  If you want to use God’s words start each day by praying Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Have a great weekend!