Taming the Tongue — Carol McLeod Ministries
Has your tongue ever gotten the best of you?!
What a perfectly ridiculous question!! Of course, it has!
Do you ever wish you could hit the “rewind” button on words that you have thoughtlessly spoken?
Of course, you have!
If you are still living and breathing … and are still interacting with people both large and small … then certainly your tongue has said things that are probably unnecessary … likely unkind … and most certainly sarcastic.
Of course, it has!
I have found time and time again that my tongue needs boundaries.
"Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity."- Proverbs 21:23
My willful tongue needs something much greater than mere “suggestions” to keep it in line.
“God has given us two ears, but one tongue, to show that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak. God has set a double fence before the tongue, the teeth and the lips, to teach us to be wary that we offend not with our tongue.” – Thomas Watson
This one-pound piece of muscle that exists between my pearly whites certainly has a mind of its own … and it requires boundaries to operate within its God-intended purposes.
The outright rebellion of my tongue demands immovable boundaries.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."- Ephesians 4:29
These lists have helped my tongue to operate as God intended it to and I believe they will do the same for you.
The first list is “10 Things I Will Never Say” and the second list is “10 Things I Will Say Every Day”.
Read on …
The amazing invariable about both shared lists is that each list will successfully function in parenting, in marriage, in the workplace, in the church and with friendships.
These lists transcend circumstance and should be followed everyday of one’s life.
TEN THINGS I WILL NEVER SAY
1. You are driving me crazy!
2. I might love you … but I just don’t like you very much right now.
3. Stop talking! Just stop talking! (Often said through clenched teeth.)
4. I will never forgive you for that.
5. You are a liar! (Or any other unflattering name that comes to mind in the heat of the moment.)
6. Now that was the dumbest thing that I have ever heard.
7. I hope I never see you again.
8. As long as I live, I will never figure you out.
9. You are like fingernails on the chalkboard of life.
10. Who in the world do you think that you are?!
TEN THINGS I WILL SAY EVERY DAY
1. I forgive you … will you forgive me?
2. I love you very much. You are always in my heart.
3. There is no one in the world I would rather spend time with than you. You always make me smile.
4. I love you AND I like you.
5. What a gift you are to me! I think you’re absolutely amazing!
6. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me the truth.
7. Wow! That’s an interesting suggestion. I always appreciate your input.
8. I am so thankful that you are in my life.
9. You are one of the most creative, kind person that I know. (Or any other encouraging adjective that describes the person as sweet, thoughtful, smart, brave, etc. You get the picture!) You are the best!
10. I am so glad that God gave you to me. I am so glad that God allowed our paths to cross.
And so, my friend, those are your boundaries for that slippery, slimy, hard to control piece of flesh in the middle of your mouth.
Read these lists often and commit every suggestion to memory.
Your world will indeed thank you for it … God will certainly honor you for it … and your heart will remain in sweet and abiding peace.
I guarantee it!
If you can live by the tenets of these 2 lists, you will go through life unashamed of what you have uttered in a moment of frustration and impatience. You will also be overwhelmingly grateful that you enforced these verbal boundaries in your life.
You can do it!
After all … it’s just ten things.
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!
