The Tongue
“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” Proverbs 17:28
As leaders and Christians, our words have influence and carry the power of life and death to our teams. Just think about this, God shaped the world with His words! As leaders, we must NEVER forget the power of our words flowing off our tongues will shape our teams.
When studying about the tongue, nothing gives away the state of our faith quicker than our speech!
When we are yelling, gossiping, mocking, screaming, or accusing someone harshly; this speech is revealing what is in our hearts.
Jesus says in Matthew 12:34, “…For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
We will speak whatever evil is inside of us. If we have good stored up inside of us, we will speak of good things. If we have evil stored up inside of us, we will speak of evil. “Our tongues are restless evils, full of deadly poison. We will praise our Father with it and then curse our neighbor. “ (James 3:8-9)
The only way our tongue will not rule our whole body is by transformation of our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.
As my friend and mentor Terri Broome says to me all the time, “What’s in your heart will flow out your mouth.” This is Jesus’ truth and a motto we both live by.
This little muscle in our mouth called the tongue can’t be tamed by ourselves. We do need to practice self discipline and you may be able to stop your speech, but the anger is still inside. We need to get to the root source causing our tongue to speak evil and as Jesus said… it is our hearts.
In prayer, ask the Lord to search your heart and know your mind. To release any anger, resentment, jealousy, or hate within you and replace it with LOVE. We want to become LOVE. #goal
Praying this way is part of building an intimate personal relationship with God. Talk to God like no other being. He already knows everything, so spill it. Write it down, get on your knees, cry out to Him. He will guide you and transform you BUT you have to ask. We can’t see our own weaknesses or evils within, but God can!! He will gently pull out the ugly.
Holding my tongue has been a struggle for me most of my life. For many years at work, I was called a feisty (Aka “B” word) woman who tells what she thinks. I had to learn the hard way that my words can hurt people. I desired change so deeply.
“People don’t remember what you said or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou)
As a new Christian, learning the Word and praying consistently has started to clean out and soften my heart. God is pulling the ugly out. Oh there is so much ugly. It is painful at times, but He has a plan!!
When situations happen that I just want to tell someone how it is… I now say to myself, “just breathe” and let the moment of anger be still. I have learned to stay silent, hold my tongue, and not react immediately. I must confess I fail often, but I keep pressing on.
Transformation through sanctification is a daily thing, we will be transforming and changing within our faith until we die, it is not a one time thing.
What a joy to know that we can have peace, joy, and love inside of us because of Jesus and not our circumstance. Praise God!!
As a leader within my career and ministry, if my heart is not right then my speech will not be right. Our words influence people or tear them down.
So remember…”Just Breathe”…and hold your tongue. Our hearts can transform to LOVE but only through accepting Jesus and then asking God to help!
Stay Rooted,Love you all…Lisa
