My tongue has kept me in trouble most of my life. I think I was born with a propensity to say exactly what I thought MUCH to my mothers dismay. My mother’s constant words for me were “Watch your mouth!”
I recall an occasion where several missionaries and deacons had come to have dinner at our house one Sunday after church. We had an old dinette set where the head chairs had arms on each side. Well you guessed it. One of those church missionaries was a bit wider than the arms of that chair. Me being concerned that my dad would have to buy new furniture blurted out something like, “She is too fat to sit in that chair!” (Or something just as bad.)
Oh well.
How do we bless and not curse? How do we say things that encourage people rather than cut them down? It is really a heart issue. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So the first issue is what am I allowing to flourish in my heart. Negativity can grow in your heart like algae in a stagnant lake. To prevent that, it is important to keep pure, positive, and powerful WORD FLOWING INTO and going OUT OF our heart. That’s how we can keep the garbage out.
Listen to your own thoughts about a person or situation. When you hear something critical, condemning, or complaining–RESPOND AND CORRECT YOURSELF OUT LOUD! For example, If you find yourself think evil thoughts about someone–STOP the THOUGHT in its tracks with a SPOKEN DECLARATION. Replace something like, “I don’t like his sermons! He talks too long!” with…
“Heavenly father I Bless____. Thank you for ministering to them EVERYTHING you want them to say, how to say it and in what manner to deliver your message. Lord, ___ has your heart and they HEAR you. They nail every sermon exactly as Holy Spirit says! AMEN”
And I love this thought that came from Doug Addison…
“Here’s a prayer that I use: “If my tongue has cursed me, (or someone else) knowingly or unknowingly, I ask forgiveness.”
So, watch your mouth!