Proverbs 10:19 – When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (NIV)

In our new home, my job is to keep the grass mowed and trimmed. We have approximately six acres which need to be mowed once a week, and it takes me about three hours to do the mowing. Fortunately, my family bought a good riding mower that I can use to keep up with this task.

The mower is sleek and comfortable, but the ground that I mow is very bumpy and uneven, resulting in a weekly bone-jarring, rough, three-hour ride. Still, the fresh air is great, and I enjoy being outside and seeing the scenery. I have learned to handle the mower skilfully and am pleased with the results when I am finished. I have, though, also learned something else: to keep my mouth shut and my tongue firmly behind my teeth, to avoid inadvertently biting part of it off as I traverse over the multitude of unexpected bumps and lumps.

Mowing the grass, however, can be just one type of a bumpy ride. Relationships are another kind. Whenever we are dealing with people, things can become very bumpy and rough from time to time. When they do, I have learned, much like riding my mower over uneven territory, to keep my mouth shut and my tongue firmly behind my teeth to avoid inadvertently blurting out words which I can never retrieve. This is not always an easy thing to accomplish. In fact, I can find it downright difficult in certain situations. Having said things in the past, however, where in hindsight I have wished that I could have bitten my tongue off, I have gradually learned the truth, as the writer of Proverbs has stated: "When words are many, sin is not absent." Thus, cultivating the virtue of keeping quiet when traversing rough relational terrain and asking God to bring to my mind calming and wise words, my tongue has learned to behave itself in a much more pleasing way.

The writer of Proverbs has also written, "A gentle answer turns away wrath," "The tongue of the wise commends knowledge," and "The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life." (Proverbs 15:1a,2a,4a NIV)

Today, may each of us ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of the goodness that the tongue can bring into the lives of others, that we may have no reason to wish that we had bitten off our tongue before blurting out the kind of words that we wish we hadn't and that we can never again retrieve.

Prayer: "Set a guard over my mouth O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil," but to all that is good and right and lovely and pleasing to You. In Christ's name, I ask. Amen. (Psalm 141:3-4a NIV)

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About the author:

Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada
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