The other day I had a meeting with someone at the church I grew up in. During the meeting and afterwards as I was saying goodbye and thanking the gentleman for his time, I was constantly sticking my feet in my mouth. That’s right. Not just one foot, but both of them. I knew it not because I caught the words as they tumbled out of my mouth, but because of the look on his face after I would say something. Then I would replay what I just said and clench my teeth at how stupid I sounded.
Last week one morning I woke up and decided that the goal for the day was to remain quiet. Not silent – I was still allowing myself the freedom to speak, only the speaking was to be done if it was uplifting, encouraging, and beneficial to those who hear it (I was thinking of Ephesians 4:29). The day was going well until I ran into a few friends at the book store. Before I could stop the words from coming out of my mouth, I had insulted (in jest) two dear friends. It was clear I was joking (I hope), but I still let my tongue flap and stuck my foot in my mouth. I realized immediately what I had just said was not okay. I half-heartedly apologized a few minutes later as I was saying goodbye, but I was really just so embarrassed and upset with myself that I didn’t want to face the issue completely. I think I may have even said to them, “I’m sorry – my goal today was to watch my mouth” as I walked away.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been the smart aleck. My sense of humor is what some may call “dry.” I speak fluent sarcasm. If my conversations don’t have a bit of bite to them, I’m not really fully engaged. I was once put in a friend’s phone (as a joke) as “Megan Smartypants Tucker.” Basically, more than a handfull of people know me for my sharp tongue. I could make some guesses as to how I developed such a bite in my speech, but then I’d be getting all psychology and “little person inside” counseling on you poor readers, and that’s just not too much fun, is it? Maybe it is. Maybe that’s for another time.
There are a couple of passages of Scripture that have been on my mind today, mostly all having to deal with the tongue and the words that I speak. A few days I ago I attended the ordination service of a friend and James 3:1-10 was shared. It reads like this from the English Standard Version:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
During the service, I really didn’t pay much mind to this. I’ve heard this passage preached many time, so the things the gentleman was saying was nothing new. I know of the bit in the horse’s mouth, I know of the rudder of the large ship, and I’ve heard many times that the tongue corrupts the whole. This afternoon when I read this passage, though, it just hit me. You know the way you can read a piece of Scripture a thousand times, and then one day the Lord just hits you over the head with it.
That happened today when I was sitting in my car, charging my phone, and catching up on my twitter feed. IHOP-KC had mentioned something about James 3:1-10. I don’t remember what they said, just the passage, and something inside me had this huge desire to find out what the passage said. There I sat, bible open, journal open, pen in hand. I was floored. My head is still kind of spinning, to be honest, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
And then I thought of this passage in Luke 6:
45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
And then I was hit over the head again.
James is talking about how the tongue is like a fire in the body. It steers the whole person and is hard to tame. He says with the same tongue we praise the King, and then turn around and tear down His likeness. In one swift move we can go from worshiping the Almighty to using a cutting remark to destroy a person.
How often have we done this? How often have I done this? How many people have I not treated as a Son or Daughter of the King?
Out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
What condition is my heart in if I am praising the King in one breath and cursing His likeness with the next?
My prayer this afternoon was that the Lord would give me opportunities to grow and stretch in this area. I think it was an outright challenge to Satan for him to tempt me. I asked the Lord to remind me of these Scriptures throughout the day, and to help me keep my focus on Him and His Word. I asked that the Lord would use me today and that I would shine for Him, and that my words and thoughts and actions would bring Him glory, for His namesake.
What brought on this whole post is when I just did a recap of the day to see how I did with this challenge to myself.
What I found was this: when I was communication with people via text (Facebook, Twitter, text messages, emails, etc.) I was more apt to catch myself when I was typing up words that would not be beneficial but instead may have caused strife. That was easy, because I was seeing it instead of just letting the words roll off my tongue. Instead of voicing frustrations to someone who can’t do anything about an issue, I chose to look at the good side of the situation and speak about those things. I wrote and rewrote an email about three different times to a professor before I was satisfied with how it read. I erased a couple of text messages and decided not to send them because they weren’t going to do any good for anyone – they were just idle chatter.
The harder parts of the day are the parts where I sort of failed miserably. These were the times I was face-to-face with someone, or walking away from someone, or driving in my car. I sassed my dad a few times tonight when I was home. I said a few words I shouldn’t have when I was looking for some items in the storage unit. I almost egged someone on as they started to talk some gossip, but they caught themselves, and in turn I was reminded to catch myself.
These times where I don’t see the words I’m saying were harder. It’s easy to catch cutting words if I have to type them out — it’s harder to catch them if I’m not thinking when I’m speaking.
Why is the tongue the toughest to tame? Why is it so much easier to make the rest of our bodies submit to us through training and discipline, but impossible to tame the tongue? The tongue is evil.
The tongue is lying. Deceitful. Slanderous. Seducing. Murdering. Prideful. Vain. Angry.
Worst of all, the tongue can be silent when it should be speaking loud about subjects the Lord cares deeply about.
We wag our tongues for the most nonsense reasons – speaking idle words, gossiping, lying about each other, spreading rumors.
We remain silent during the times we need to speak up: when injustices occur, when rumors are flying and we know the truth, when we have a word to give to someone but remain afraid.
We use our words to cut each other, deep to our cores. The sarcasm is funny as long as it’s not about you. The jokes are funny as long as they’re not about your mom. The rumors are exciting as long as they’re not about what you did last weekend. Everything that tickles our ears is “good,” so long as it doesn’t cost us a thing.
How did the tongue become so wild? How can one attempt to tame it?
Do you struggle with taming your tongue?
refinement 
I like hearing what you have to say. (: