08 Aug On Taming my Tongue

I’m a talker.

Oh, right, this comes as no surprise to anyone who’s known me for longer than four seconds.

So this passage has followed me persistently throughout my life, convicting me on more than one occasion as I rattle my way through friendships, marriage, and parenting.

“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs” (James 3:2-4).

My tongue can only spew forth what simmers in my soul. Turning wildly wherever the will of my heart directs it.

Taming the Tongue

So the immediate question I torment myself with is, “How can my words and the heart from which they come be tamed?”

Our pastor charged us to remember who we are speaking to and who we are speaking of.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes of this in Life Together, his work on living in community. How radically transforming would it be if we truly viewed one another through the lens of Christ?

If I saw you as Christ sees you, not for what you’ve done or haven’t done, not for how you’ve hurt me or helped me … just clean. A new creature, washed in His blood and equally treasured by our Heavenly Father. 

Forget about everything else for a moment – Think about how this would transform our parenting.

See, I’ve mentioned this before but this has been a difficult season of motherhood. Between yet another move, postpartum anxiety, ADHD and all the meltdowns, my emotions have swamped me over the last two years. And so what comes out of my tired, sometimes drowning heart, is oftentimes frustration and anger at the children God has given us to shepherd.

Even in this, especially in this, we require so desperately His grace and the transforming power of Christ on the cross.

And so, there is the answer. The cross. Always the life and death of Christ at work in us (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).

~M.