DAY 35 – “WHY GOD CHOSE TONGUES”

VERSES TO CONSIDER:

James 3: 7-10, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (NIV)

Luke 6:45, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (NIV)

 ”Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” This saying is not necessarily true. Many people have been hurt by words. Sticks and stones may wound the body, but words can wound the soul.  The tongue is small and powerful; positively and negatively. The tongue is also perplexing.  How perplexing and frustrating it is to praise God in a worship service only to speak harsh words to a family member on the way home. An example like this one is a harsh reminder that the tongue cannot by tamed by a human being.

There was a woman in a Native American village who maliciously gossiped about another lady in the village. One day she found out that she was wrong about this lady had a change of heart. She went to the village’s wise man and asked how to take back all the wrong she had done. The wise man told her to go home, kill her chickens, pluck their feathers, and put them into a bag. After this she was to go back and see the wise man again, but on her way back she was to scatter all the feathers.

The woman did as she was told. When she got back to the man, he told her, “Go back and pick up all the feathers that you have scattered.” The woman was astonished at such a command and said, “By now the wind has carried the feathers throughout the village and beyond.” The wise man replied, “And so it is with your careless words. They are like the feathers scattered in the wind. You cannot retrieve them.”

Trying to control one’s tongue is like trying to retrieve feathers that have been scattered by the wind. No one can control the tongue just like no one can tame the heart. A tongue problem is really a heart problem.  Jesus revealed this when He stated, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, God not only fills your heart but He also asserts that He can do the impossible in taming your tongue. The evidence of speaking in an unlearned, unknown tongue is not only an initial physical evidence of that you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is also the powerful, personal evidence that God has and can continue to tame your tongue.

A PRAYER TO PRAY: Jesus, I realize I cannot tame my tongue. Forgive me for my hurtful, unnecessary words. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, initially and continually, so my heart will overflow with a God-given prayer language but also with words that are life-giving and God-honoring. In Jesus’ name, Amen.