Train(ed) Tongue
My kids are currently obsessed with trains. Their favorite TV shows to watch are Chuggington and Thomas the Train. We go to the library to get books and color...and they play with the train set! We drive through Reading and they are ecstatic if they get to see a train. It's so cute to watch their wide-eyed interest in any type of "choo-choo."
My 2 year old son, P, is finally speaking on a regular basis. It did not take him long to identify Gordon on Thomas the Train. However, P does not call him Gordon...he calls him "De De De" because, if you're familiar with the show, Gordon is ALWAYS saying, "Oh, the indignity!" Gordon is a proud engine who pulls the Express Line. He becomes very grumpy when things aren't done to his high standard.It's amazing to me that even a 2 year old can pick up on this expression and temperament that Gordon often portrays.
An area in my life that God has recently been challenging me is the area of the tongue. It all started a few weeks ago when our Sunday School lesson was on James 3. Verse 5-6 says, "The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell ." If only I could fully grasp how powerful my words really are! James goes on to say how we use our same mouth to both praise God and curse men.
If that wasn't a hard enough chapter to "chew on", God also spoke to me on the same subject in a book I'm currently reading by Beth Moore called "Believing God." One comment that struck me was, "A wayward tongue signals a wayward heart." It saddens me to think of how many things I say in a day that aren't uplifting, positive, or encouraging. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. She goes on to list some misuses of the tongue that begin to diffuse spiritual effectiveness like: gossip, lying, profanity, perversity, rudeness, criticism, breaking a confidence, complaining, inappropriate humor, and misuse of God's name. How reluctant God must be to answer our prayers, said in His name, if we have a tendency to misuse His name!
Instead of using our tongues for negative things, how powerful it would be to see Christians replace the actions in the first list with new ones from the following: encouraging a friend, resolving conflict, praying for someone, speaking blessings over someone, offering advice, teaching, communicating, instructing, sharing your testimony, mentoring someone, conversing with someone from a different generation or culture, witnessing to someone, preaching, and worshiping or praising God.
I can't help but think of the Israelites. God delivered them from slavery, but because of their complaining and doubt, they had to spend many years wandering in the desert. Even though God provided manna for them, they still complained when they were weary of eating it. How often in our own lives are we using our tongues to complain and doubt instead of praising God for the blessings He has bestowed on us? We can tear down or build up with our words. We can speak killing words or living words. We can encourage or discourage. Beth quotes, " If you and I want to abide and flourish in our Promised Lands, we're going to have to get rid of some bad reporting, faithless, talking, and negative grumbling."
I like this quote I stumbled across on Pinterest this week: God gave us mouths that close and ears that don't, that should tell us something! My goal for this year is to do more listening (like the eye contact, involved listening...not distracted, half-listening) and less talking. Obviously there are times we do need to be real and honest with each other when life is tough and we are dealt difficult circumstances. But, we must learn to be real without a grumbling, unappreciative heart.
Just as my son's "train tongue" reminded me of how important and crucial it is to watch what I say, may we all be challenged to operate with a "trained tongue". May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You, our God.
My 2 year old son, P, is finally speaking on a regular basis. It did not take him long to identify Gordon on Thomas the Train. However, P does not call him Gordon...he calls him "De De De" because, if you're familiar with the show, Gordon is ALWAYS saying, "Oh, the indignity!" Gordon is a proud engine who pulls the Express Line. He becomes very grumpy when things aren't done to his high standard.It's amazing to me that even a 2 year old can pick up on this expression and temperament that Gordon often portrays.
An area in my life that God has recently been challenging me is the area of the tongue. It all started a few weeks ago when our Sunday School lesson was on James 3. Verse 5-6 says, "The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell ." If only I could fully grasp how powerful my words really are! James goes on to say how we use our same mouth to both praise God and curse men.
If that wasn't a hard enough chapter to "chew on", God also spoke to me on the same subject in a book I'm currently reading by Beth Moore called "Believing God." One comment that struck me was, "A wayward tongue signals a wayward heart." It saddens me to think of how many things I say in a day that aren't uplifting, positive, or encouraging. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. She goes on to list some misuses of the tongue that begin to diffuse spiritual effectiveness like: gossip, lying, profanity, perversity, rudeness, criticism, breaking a confidence, complaining, inappropriate humor, and misuse of God's name. How reluctant God must be to answer our prayers, said in His name, if we have a tendency to misuse His name!
Instead of using our tongues for negative things, how powerful it would be to see Christians replace the actions in the first list with new ones from the following: encouraging a friend, resolving conflict, praying for someone, speaking blessings over someone, offering advice, teaching, communicating, instructing, sharing your testimony, mentoring someone, conversing with someone from a different generation or culture, witnessing to someone, preaching, and worshiping or praising God.
I can't help but think of the Israelites. God delivered them from slavery, but because of their complaining and doubt, they had to spend many years wandering in the desert. Even though God provided manna for them, they still complained when they were weary of eating it. How often in our own lives are we using our tongues to complain and doubt instead of praising God for the blessings He has bestowed on us? We can tear down or build up with our words. We can speak killing words or living words. We can encourage or discourage. Beth quotes, " If you and I want to abide and flourish in our Promised Lands, we're going to have to get rid of some bad reporting, faithless, talking, and negative grumbling."
I like this quote I stumbled across on Pinterest this week: God gave us mouths that close and ears that don't, that should tell us something! My goal for this year is to do more listening (like the eye contact, involved listening...not distracted, half-listening) and less talking. Obviously there are times we do need to be real and honest with each other when life is tough and we are dealt difficult circumstances. But, we must learn to be real without a grumbling, unappreciative heart.
Just as my son's "train tongue" reminded me of how important and crucial it is to watch what I say, may we all be challenged to operate with a "trained tongue". May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You, our God.
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