If there is one thing God convicts me of more than anything else, I think it is my spoken words. Time and again, I have had to ask forgiveness (usually of my husband) for a hastily spoken, thoughtless, unkind, angry word. This is certainly not a new phenomenon with me and, unfortunately, I have not gained the control I should have in my older years.
My conviction is such that I adopted for my focal verse earlier this year, Colossians 4:6: "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Well, my speech is often salty; too much so, in fact. My prayer and my goal is that it will be "with grace" and seasoned with just the right amount of salt.
God's word deals with the tongue and our speech numerous times. Proverbs 15:1 tells us that "a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." We also see in Proverbs 12:18, "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." We have the power with our spoken word to calm things or stir things up, to hurt or to heal.
Jesus speaks strongly in Matthew 12:36 when He says, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." Whew! That should be enough to tame my errant tongue for good.
James uses several analogies to illustrate how this relatively small body part is powerful enough to control and influence everything in our lives. Again we are humbled in being reminded that "no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison." Here is my hope, though. Jesus says in Luke 18:27, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God." Hallelujah! I go forward into this day with the knowledge from 2 Corinthians 5:17 that I am in Christ and therefore a new creation; "the old things are passed away; behold, new things have come." Amen and amen!
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