No matter how old I get, I will never forget my mother’s instructions … “pick up your room, make up your bed, did you brush your teeth?, wash behind your ears, don’t interrupt” … and the big one … “watch your tongue, young lady!” I have to admit I never quite understood the last one. Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I would always “watch” my tongue in the mirror.
As time went on and I had presumably matured, I began to appreciate quotes such as, “what comes out of your mouth is determined by what goes into your mind.” (Zig Ziglar). Pretty wise stuff, Zig. I say that, especially now, as I observe daily vile statements made through social media, news outlets, from celebrities and politicians.
Scripture has a lot to say about guarding your lips. “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:3) Words are rarely neutral. God hears every word we speak – and someone on earth hears it, too.
We are all marked by memories of words spoken to us by someone else. Perhaps we rejoice in a child’s first words or feel the sting of a friend’s hurtful words. Words can both bring harm and bring gladness. King Solomon was right: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Many times the words that are said to us in anger can shape a person’s life for decades and perhaps forever.
Hurtful words easily flow from our mouths. They are reckless, like the careless swing of a sword, and unguarded during times when we answer before we listen. Sometimes we simply say too much; inevitably, we say things we should have kept to ourselves. Words can destroy a neighbor, crush the feelings of a friend, and set fire to our relationships with others. One wrong word may spoil a person’s character, smear a reputation, or mar the usefulness of someone else’s life for a very long time. We know all this, yet how hard we find it to guard our mouths. How often we close our mouths too late, only after we have opened them wide and brought damage to ourselves or to others.
We should be honest about our failure to control our tongues, and should be far more serious in seeking, by God’s enabling, to guard our own mouth and banish ruinous words. I pray daily to guard my tongue and open my ears to hear God speaking to me and what others are truly saying to me.
What will it look like for each of us to take seriously these words: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19)?
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com.
Tagged: scripture, words matter
