Shut Up?

"The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust."

A little girl came running to her parents in tears; her mother asked "Did your friend hurt you?"

"Yes," said the girl, "Where?" her mother asked. "Right here," said the child, pointing to her heart.

Some call it a sharp knife, a small but powerful rudder of a large ship, others a snowball that gathers size, whatever you refer to it as, the tongue is a very dangerous weapon. It can corrupt, condemn, break down, acquire revenge & terrorize. It has caused wars, enslaved people & became the main tool in twisting & preparing the minds of the German people for the horrors of the Holocaust.

I’d have to say that I’m probably the worlds worst at opening my mouth & inserting my foot. Andy Taylor once said as he raised his foot and propped it up on his desk, “How could that great big foot, all of it, fit in my mouth?”, I think at times we all feel that way, but for some reason it always seems to hit us… after we have said, what we wish we wouldn’t have.

Controlling our tongue is like any other problem we face & we have to handle it in the same way we would any other problem, we have to decide first to turn it over to God, also make a decision that in the future we will watch our tongue, think about what we are going to say & never be quick to answer or comment,(sounds kind of weird coming from me).
“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19

Though the tongue can be used for bad, it can also be used for good. It can build up, encourage, bless, strengthen, & instill confidence in someone to do great things, like Cheryl Prewitt. Who is Cheryl Prewitt? That’s what I said too.

When Cheryl Prewitt was four years old, she hung around her father’s small country store. Almost daily the milkman would come into the store & greet her with these words, “How’s my little Miss America?” At first she giggled, but eventually she became comfortable with it…& even liked it a little. Soon the milkman’s greetings became a childhood fantasy…then a teenage dream. Finally, it became a goal…& in 1980, she stood on a stage in Atlantic City & was crowned…Miss America.

The tongue…such a small part of the body…but it holds an unbelievable amount of power…use it wisely.

“The Tongue weighs practically nothing, but so few people can hold it” Unknown

Vern