I prayed: “Lord, I understand according to Luke 6:45 that ‘a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good’; and I also understand that ‘an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.’
“Would you please take the four-letter words out of my heart and replace them with Your expressions? I thank You in advance for purging me of profanity and for allowing the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be acceptable in Your sight.”
Every day presents us with an opportunity to respond or to speak in a manner that would dishonor or glorify our heavenly Father. Is it spiritual naiveté to think that we can always say the right thing, at the right time and in the right way?
How was the woman described in Proverbs 31 able to set a communication standard that raised the bar so high?”She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness” (Prov. 31:26). Looks as if she was able to tame her tongue.
One of my spiritual mentors, Marlene Talley, held the secret. More than 25 years ago when she observed my tendency to speak without much forethought, she cautioned, “Stop, think and pray before you speak.”
When we stop, think and pray before we speak, we find ourselves blessing rather than blasting others, exhibiting patience rather than pushiness, sharing good rather than gossip and choosing caring rather than cutting words.
Otherwise, we find our tongue in drive while our brain is in neutral. It is then that our words become verbal shrapnel that lodges in another person’s emotions with disastrous results.
Here’s what I have concluded. Words are verbalized thoughts that emanate from our hearts. If we turn to Scripture and use Philippians 4:8 as our thought sifter, our communication will always go from negative to positive:
“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
I find that memorizing “tongue” Scriptures such as this is essential to transforming my speech.
I store them in my spiritual war chest for use whenever a situation arises.
King David declared, ” ‘I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle’ ” (Ps. 39:1). Do you share his desire to honor God in your speech?
Then why not try a day-to-day tongue fast to get started? And don’t forget that the Holy Spirit, your Helper, is standing at attention ready to give you all the grace you need to succeed.
Deborah Smith Peguesis a popular speaker and best-selling author of 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue. A certified behavioral consultant and certified public accountant, she has also written Financial Survival in Uncertain Times and Emergency Prayers. For more information, go to confrontingissues.com.
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