Wily Wascal

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Proverbs 21:23   Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Psalm 119:171-172    My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes, my tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness. 

Psalm 141:3    Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Matthew 15:11    Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Ephesians 4:29     Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Ephesians 5:4     neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

James 1:26    If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not have bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this one’s religion is useless.

James 3:5-6,8-10     Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.  The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell…..But no man can tame the tongue.  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing, My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

 

WOW!  What a wily ‘wascal’ waves within!!

                I have difficulty with my tongue.  I hear coarse and curse words eking out sometimes in the flow of conversation, and I hate it.  Usually, I don’t catch it right away so I can apologize to those I’ve just spoken with in a crass manner; no, generally, the Holy Spirit scolds me later—or probably more accurately, He did try to interrupt me, and I was caught up in the time and “tuned out” the correction.

                Anyway, I hate it.  Not only is it sinful (using the Lord’s name in vain—and my words are using His name as well as common, disgusting street words) it is disrespectful to my Savior and Creator as well as the others with me.  And certainly, how can I state that I am a Christian who loves and respects my God when disgusting speech spews?   I wish my tongue was only used to demonstrate prayers, praise, and thankfulness and blessings to others.            

                My husband used to use coarse words all the time, like they were the word “the,” “that,” “and” or something.  It was frustrating to hear so often, and yet, he was unaware.  When it was pointed out, he would be more conscious for about 5 minutes at the outset, then back into the use of the negative ‘adjective/verb/noun’ in whatever capacity he used it at that moment. 

                I can remember having a heated discussion early on when we were married, and hearing me say the word for the first time.  It was shocking and disturbing, but seemed to stress my point just BECAUSE it was not a common word for my vocabulary.  However, apparently it go easier, and my speech became almost, or has crass as his.  That breaks my heart.  Lord, set me think of what I am saying before dreadful things come vomiting out of my mouth that disrespect and hurt You.

                So my speech is one of the things I beseech God to address with me, preferable BEFORE I misuse crass words.  And there is all manner of misbehaving our tongues can do.  For being a tiny little muscle they are powerful and cause a lot of damage.  For sure, they allow one to spew curse and disgusting language.  But they allow gossip, judgments, lies, anger, discouraging words, and so forth to spill out. 

               We are to gently rebuke others when needed, we are not to express our negative opinions or judgments since we can be judged by the Judge with the same harshness we judge others.  We are not to gossip about others; that always causes undo hurt.  We are only able to get a small glimpse into others lives, and have NO idea why they might choose to make certain choices that we later gossip about.  We have all heard others make noise about others doing something, acting a certain way, and we don’t know—and should not spread the negative news about; all a matter of “covering their father’s shame.” Genesis 9:23.  Gossip, coarse jesting, and unkind comments frequently are spread when someone has seen something, overheard something and takes it out of context and spreads to others.    Covering their father’s shame meant it would not go further, it would not be discussed, it would not be a worrisome and hurtful thing passed to others.

                There are receptors in our tongues allowing us to identify sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (savory) {from broths and cooked meats}.  I must have a multitude of sweet receptors, because I love to taste sweet and savory!  But our busy tongues have receptors which help to taste and start the digestive process of foods, and yes, the majority of digestion is beyond the tongue, but different salivary enzymes are released in the mouth.    

                Certainly the tongue has pain and feeling receptors, and although your mind may repeatedly and firmly tell it no about playing around a wounded tooth, canker sore, place where you bit your cheek, this willful muscle continues to play where it wants. 

Tongues are small but very wily ‘wascals’ and can cause a lot of damage, in multiple ways.  Mine can spew curse words, or sometimes harmful, angry words, I try not to pass on gossip, but that too is a journey and process.  I certainly have difficulty controlling my tongue from desiring foods, even without hunger.  Love the sweets and so much more.

There is a lot to pray about for control of the tongue, and I will continue to ask for help in this regard.  I do not want to disrespect God with anything I say, disrespect others by anything I say, cause someone hurt unintentionally with anything I say, and I certainly would love to gain control of what I put in my mouth!  The tongue can bring curses and blessings.  Let your tongue be used to bless others and thank God often throughout each day.

Lord, I am circling and believing on Psalm 141:3   Set a guard over my mouth; what comes out and what goes in   Let me guard my intake and honor You with food, and guard my words and honor and praise You allowing no curses or negative speech to escape

You know my heart, and You know my intent, and I want to thank You for the ways You have already helped me gain control of this ‘nasty, wily wascal’ and help me demonstrate to others how You have changed me and ‘mybellaviews.’