I am a woman of many words lol! and Proverbs 10:19 says “When words are many, sin is not absent. But he who holds his tongue is wise.”

James 3 says that NO man can tame the tongue. It is filled with deadly poison.

I long to be a woman who is filled with life giving words. Who is filled with grace and mercy. But the reality is – I stumble in many ways (James 3:2). And when I stumble, it brings pain to others and to my own soul. I long to be free of this problem in my life – to be so full of wisdom and self-control that I never ever stumble again!

But let me be honest, I stumble! I stumble all of the time in my marriage, in my parenting, and sadly with my friendships! Not long ago, I had to email a friend and apologize for critical words I spoke. SO embarrassing! I urge you to be very careful with your words in friendships. Pray before you send emails or post on facebook. Pray God would show you if anything you type could hurt another. Filter your words with love and grace. Be forgiving when someone else acts immaturely. Pursue unity.

I made a video about this very passage of James and included my children. Let’s teach our children while they are young the power of words. It will save them a lot of heartache and produce a generation of children who are world changers for Jesus!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baR2i2SJKJs?rel=0]

James 3:1-12 ESV - Taming the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 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. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 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. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

We will never master perfect control of our tongue. Forever we will need to daily align our heart with God's word, filtering our thoughts and words through the strainer of God's word and repenting when the words we speak hurt others. The next time someone hurts you with their words - remember grace...because you at any minute are about to slip up too! As a matter of fact, often it's right after someone else's slip up that I slip up 10 times worse (for example in marriage - my husband says one word critical - and whamo - out comes 2 critical words from me. Often what I say is far worse than the first offense.)

I like to journal my confessions...it reminds me how much I need Jesus. The cross says we are flawed but it also says we are forgiven.

Walk with the King! ,WomenLivingWell.org