Tame A Tiger or A Tongue?

Mix a trampoline and two boys, what do you get? Correct – an accident. That’s exactly what happened a few months ago to my two sons, Kyle and Sean. Sean’s head met up with one of Kyle’s front teeth. You’re probably already running the scenario in your head of what happened next. As expected, Kyle’s tooth broke on impact and Sean’s head received a good sized cut. And we spent the evening in the ER.

The process in the ER is a story in and of itself - one I won't get into. What was interesting was the fact that Sean had to take antibiotics because the cut was exposed to his brother’s mouth. In fact, Kyles tooth was lodged in Sean’s scalp. Over and over the Dr.s and nurses stated how horribly dirty and full of bacteria the human mouth is.

The power of our mouth or tongue is one of the greatest powers God has given us. With the tongue, we can praise God, pray, speak His Word, and lead the lost to Christ. What a privilege! But with that same tongue we can tell lies that could ruin a person's reputation or break a person's heart. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," warned Solomon (Prov. 18:21). The ability to speak words is the ability to influence others and accomplish tremendous tasks; and yet we take this ability for granted.

Let’s not underestimate the power of our words. A simple word of encouragement, instead of a slamming remark; a polite please or thank you with a smile could change someone’s whole day. An "I love you" when someone least expects it could be a moment they might never forget. Knowing the amount of spiritual bacteria I have in my mouth, I decided to mentally find at least three things to appreciate about the people I come in contact with; and to verbalize one of those things to the person. That’s hard. It’s easier for me to make a snide remark to get a laugh.

As James says, "This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer (James 3:7-8). Let’s not take for granted this gift of words that we have. This week think about how you can give life to those around you with your words, instead of spreading bacteria.