My worst enemy is mentioned 137 times.
How can it be that one verse talks about the tongue giving praise to God and the next verse states this:
but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
That one part of my body that is needed to speak and eat, the part that I can make a joyful noise unto the Lord, also is a weapon of massive destruction.
Within the past couple of months I have been the victim of gossip. The gossip came back around and I was told of the gossip spoken about me. Wow, does that hurt. The tongues of some people in my life brought pain and hurt instead of life and encouragement.
It has taken me some time to choose to forgive. And I have done that...I have spoken out forgiveness in prayer. I am not about to walk up to them and say "Hey, I heard what you said about me and I forgive you." No, I am choosing to forgive in my heart, mind and soul and move on. My emotions will eventually catch up because the sting is actually still with me. But I am wanting to move on.
What is more important, however, is the lesson that I learned...again.
That lesson is that: Gossip hurts.
And I have done that to people. I have spoken unkind and hurtful words about people. Gossip has come out of my mouth and I am not proud of that at all. In fact is sickens me. Yet, I do it again and again.
All by myself, I cannot control my tongue. I know this because I continue to fail at taming that beast! Earlier this year, God kept bringing the words strength and courage to me. Those are two very important and powerful words. Everytime I turned around I would hear someone mention those words, or I would see them written, I would have a dream with those words in them, or hear even something on the radio or TV pertaining to those words. After seeing those words repeatedly I knew they were words God wanted me to pay attention too and to apply them in my life.
I need God's strength to quit being a gossip. I need God's courage to step up and say "no..no...no" when my tongue is tempted to spread unkind words or to repeat other gossip.
It is a war and it starts in my heart. I don't want my tongue to be the victor in evil. My prayer is that my tongue will be an instrument of praise and encouragement.
Lord, thank you for my tongue. Please forgive me for the gossip I've done. Cleanse my heart and make me new again. Give me the courage to stop the gossip cycle. I ask for Your strength. In Jesus's name. Amen.
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