Walking with the Wise #396: Taming the Tongue

-->“Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
 keeps himself out of trouble.”

—Proverbs 21:23

If a man learns how to control his tongue, then he is a blessed man indeed. Men will want to be around him, and leaders will want to confide in and hear from him. The tongue is a powerful instrument and with it we bless God—it is entrusted with the power to build up and to tear down, to inspire courage, or to warn of danger. Controlling the tongue is one of the most obvious characteristics of our sanctification, and one of the most difficult to reign in, as James wrote:

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless”—James 1:26.

Oh, the wild and wily tongue! How powerful it is! It can build kingdoms or bring them down! But how often do we let it run wild like a rabid dog! Our tongue can serve as a great blessing or burden and all of us know all too well the pain it can cause. How many of us have been wounded by an unkind word? How many of us have been victims of gossip or slander? How many of us bear scars from parents who said unkind, demeaning, derogatory, defaming, or simply discouraging words that have caused irreparable harm? I believe that we all have.

But, the converse is also true—the tongue can be used to bless, to build, to inspire to take courageous steps of faith, to climb higher, and to move forward more boldly. There have been those in our lives whose words have acted as oases of encouragement and repositories of respite, and have rescued our souls from pits of despair. They contain life within them, and we long to be in their presence, to experience the warmth of spirit that flows from them.

If we are to be used by God to bestow such life, then we must learn to bridle our tongue, control it, making sure that we are blessing others by it and using it as a source of life, rather than wounding swords of sin. If we learn to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (including misuse of our tongue), then we will successfully keep ourselves out of trouble. We will learn to hold our tongues so that we may not see increased strife.

Is your tongue out of control? Then ask God by His Spirit to help you put it to death and transform it for the encouragement of others. He will give you His power to help accomplish His will, and when He does, give Him glory because of it. Amen.