I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to open my mouth and put my foot into it. In other words, I speak before I think. More often than not I regret it the moment it comes out of my mouth. One of the frustrating things about this is there seems to be no limit to how many times it can happen. I am dumbfounded as to why I can’t slap a whole horse into my mouth. (You know, how we say we are hungry enough to eat a horse, it’s is a miracle that I cannot actually do it!)
How do I, how do we (I know I cannot be the only one) deal with this? Well, just like any other problem we have in life, you should get out your Bible (life’s instruction manual) and figure out what God has to say on the subject. Did you not know that all thru history other people have had the same problem?
First off, did you know that Adam and Eve were from the South? I can prove that. As Eve was taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, she looked at Adam and said, “Watch this!”; and as Adam did the same thing he looked back at Eve and said “Watch this!” (not to be outdone by a female he was more than likely standing on one leg or something as he was taking his bite).
Down thru history it has been the same thing, people making big statements and wishing they had not made that statement. Look at King Herod making the statement to his stepdaughter that she could have anything in the kingdom if she would do her dance and then having to give her the head of John the Baptist on a platter because of the advice her mother gave her (who had a vendetta against John the Baptist). Can you just imagine the regret he had for having made the statement to begin with? Can you imagine the daughter’s regret for having listened to her mother’s advice?
“The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
“Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.”
“Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be.”
“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”
“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”
“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in you hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.” James 3:8-14
I can imagine all sorts of people down through the ages have regretted the things they have said. Our mouths seem to have a mind of their own with hinges that are easy to open but hard to shut. It comes from the heart though, and it is a choice. I challenge you to pick up your Bibles and read the rest of the eighth chapter of James. He goes on to say that the wisdom to keep your lifestyle (your conversation) in check comes from above. Through the Holy Spirit that is in you, the wisdom comes from above to stop that tongue from it’s incessant wagging.
“Nip it people. Nip it in the bud.”
– Barney Fife
AE
Voice of the Introverts 