Taming the tongue

He who restrains his lips is wise.— Proverbs 10:19

At amusement parks, the bumper-car ride is always popular. People enjoy driving recklessly for a few minutes, bumping deliberately but harmlessly into other people’s cars.

Some people have a bumper-car mentality in their relationships with others. Using blunt words, they deliberately bump into others’ feelings, which is anything but harmless.

Solomon wrote, “He who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19). But James said, “No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). He said that with the tongue we bless our God who created us, but we also curse those whom He has created (v.9). Lest we think that Christians do the blessing and non-Christians do the cursing, we need to remember that James was writing to Christians.

To tame our tongues, we need God’s help. In Romans 6:13, Paul said that we need to make a choice — to present the parts of our body “as instruments of righteousness to God,” not “as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.”

Today and every day, choose to present your body — including your unruly tongue — as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:2) to be used by Him as an instrument of blessing. — Joanie Yoder

Lord, set a watch upon my lips,My tongue control today;Help me evaluate each thought And guard each word I say. — Hess

READ: Proverbs 10:18-32

To bridle your tongue, give God the reins of your heart.