The Talmud tells a story of a King who commanded his jester to go out and bring the very best thing in the world. After a few hours the jester returned with a small package in his hand. The king was surprised that the jester found the best thing in the world so soon; he opened the packet and found a human tongue. The King praised the jester for his choice and commanded him to go and bring him the worst thing in the world. This time the jester took much lesser time and returned with another package in his hand. The king unwrapped the package and found a human tongue in the packet. No wonder the human tongue is called the double edged sword, depending on how we use it the tongue could be our best gift at the same time could become our worst weapon.
The tongue is probably one of the most exercised parts in our body, it is one of the few parts that do not have a bone inside (may be that is why we have loose tongues). Someone made an interesting comment that our tongue slips very often because it is on a slippery ground. Our tongue, though a very small part in our body has the power to dictate our life and destiny. A small careless word is like a lighted match that can burn the whole forest into ashes within hours. A thoughtless remark, an angry word, a slip of the tongue can start arguments and fights that end up in unending wars. An uncontrolled tongue has the capacity to destroy reputations and cause deep wounds that are hard to heal. Unlike many other sharp tools that become blunt upon usage the tongue is the only sharp weapon that becomes sharper and swifter by constant use.
Our tongue slips very often because it is on a slippery ground
I have to confess that many times in my life I regretted what I said, on several occasions I spoke without giving much thought to the consequences of my words, but the tragedy is that once we said something there is no way we can take back the words. We can apologize for our words and comments, but that will not undo the damage done by our swift words. A Sunday school teacher asked the children to squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube, the kids enjoyed looking at the paste that is spilled all over. Then, the kids were asked to put the toothpaste back into the tube. Well, we all know how impossible that is. It is easy and sometimes fun to squeeze the toothpaste out, but we can never get the toothpaste back into the tube no matter how hard we try. A word said is like a stone that is thrown into still waters, it continues to cause ripples that will go farther than we thought and will affect more people than we can imagine.
Unlike many other sharp tools that become blunt upon usage the tongue is the only sharp weapon that becomes sharper and swifter by constant use.
Much can be said of a person’s character by the way they use or misuse their tongue. The ancient philosopher Sanaca once said, “Speech is the index of the mind.” Jesus declared that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mat. 12:34) and the ultimate power of words is mentioned in Proverbs 18:21 where the Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” When you visit a doctor, no matter what your complaint is the doctor usually checks your tongue because the tongue reveals some significant facts about your health. The Bible has a lot to say about our tongue. In fact James says that our tongue reveals the state of our spiritual health. James 1:26 says “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
Richard Foster says “The tongue is our most powerful weapon of manipulation. A frantic stream of words flows from us because we are in a constant process of adjusting our public image. We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us that we talk in order to straighten out their understanding.” The multitude of words only further complicates this problem and in fact gets us into other problems that were not there in the first place. Learning to control our tongue is one of the most important spiritual disciplines that can make a big difference in our spiritual journey. There are many individuals, families, churches and denominations that are hurting because some Christians have not exercised self-control on their tongues. Paul says in Col 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were with salt”, sometimes I wonder if we by mistake season it with pepper instead of salt because they are often right next to each other.
Our words are like an iceberg on the ocean, they are an indicator of what our heart is filled with. It takes a lot of discipline and intentionality to overcome the urge to use a lot of words. Some of us are naturally outspoken, it is considered strength in a world where verbal expressions are highly valued, however if we are not careful with our words and constantly work on controlling our tongues we will fall into pits that are hard to recover from. Remember the saying of the wise man “He who guards his mouth preserves his life” (Prov 13:3). Let us join David who said “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue, I will guard my mouth as a muzzle” (Ps 39:1) and let this be our prayer everyday “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord…” (Psalm 19:14).
If we are not careful with our words we will fall into pits that are hard to recover from.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
