master your mouth…

a mature person can master his mouth.  do you master your mouth?

james 3.2 (niv), we all stumble in many ways. (this is an understatement.  nobody’s perfect)  if anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."

the first thing a doctor will say when you go for a check up is ”stick out your tongue.”  he uses your tongue to check your health.  GOD does that spiritually too.

in world war 11 there was a saying, “loose lips, sinks ships.”  loose lips destroy lives.  they hurt! 

definition of gossip: hearing something you like about somebody you don’t.  it is a mouth to mouth recitation.

self control comes from tongue control.  we get ourselves into so much trouble at what we say and what we think and what we speak and james 3 gives us several illustrations.  he says our tongue is like a rudder, a bit in a horse’s mouth, a spark, a snake, a spring. 

he says, you put a little bit in a horses mouth and that little bit can control the direction of the horse.  a little rudder on a boat can control the direction of the boat.  your tongue, which, by size is very insignificant, controls your life. 

what you say directs your life, what you say can destroy your life.  it can delight people’s lives; it can discourage people’s lives.  your tongue is powerful for good or for evil.

have you ever heard someone say, “i just say what’s on my mind.”  they’re proud of it.  being frank, up front, they say what’s on their mind…  maybe there’s not a whole lot on their mind.  maybe what’s on their mind shouldn’t be said.  the bible says that’s not frankness, that’s immaturity.  a lot of people just need a dose of tactfulness.

just a thought from the front porch…