Daily Devotional – Calvary Chapel Secret Harbour – 10th March 2021
Have you ever said something you regretted?
Words that just did nothing but all things wrong. I often ask people when on the receiving end of such times, as to why they would say such a thing? That the words they have spoken don’t reflect the person I know they are. What was the purpose of those words? When we speak, we should ask ourselves, are these words really necessary?
When I do written correspondence, there is the added blessing of not sending it straightaway but waiting until the next day to review what I have put on paper. It often saves a lot of embarrassment and how often we can wonder how we write it as it was in the first draft?
King David put all this succinctly in Psalm 39 – I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle.
Often that is what it really takes in controlling our speech. A tight conscious muzzle on the smallest member as James calls it, but one such little member that can light a massive fire of destruction. James 3:5.
To control our tongue, with the Lord’s help we can do:
1. Think first – Before your lips get into gear, wait just 10 small seconds and mentally go over what you are considering saying. Are they necessary at all? Are they true or exaggerated? Are they kind and encouraging or simply brutal in their content? Are they grateful or complaining?
2. Talk less – Your chances of creating havoc, of lighting an explosion, are directly proportioned to the amount of time you spend with your mouth in action! Try closing it for longer periods and spend much more time listening than you ever have before.
3. Start today – Place that godly muzzle on your mouth NOW. It’s a project you have put off far too long.
Pro 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.