You Said What?

by Tim Howard

I made some comments the other day, which caused a host of problems. I regretted the words spoken, but it was too late! It was like writing an e-mail to someone and then pressing that dreaded ‘send’ button without proofreading the text. You can’t take it back, it’s already gone and all you can do is wait to see what happens.

The fiasco I created reminded me of the truth found in James 3:2-6: “We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire…” NLT.

A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that! By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation and send the whole world up in smoke because we started a fire that comes from the pit of hell.

This is a bit scary wouldn’t you say? You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild. With our tongues we bless God our Father and then with the same tongues we curse the very men and women He made in His image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! WOW! This shouldn’t be happening.

Back in the day, a comedian named, Flip Wilson, often said: “What you see is what you get.” It’s also accurate to say: “What you say is what you get.”

What you say has the authority to open doors for tomorrow’s troubles or triumphs! Many people have been influenced and swayed throughout history both positively and negatively by the use of words. There is a tremendous force released when you speak! The words you declare actually have the power to produce an atmosphere of life for people to enjoy or create a morbid gloom that results in death. Proverbs 18:21 makes this truth verifiable.

The Israelites witnessed this fact in the Old Testament when the twelve spies returned from a reconnaissance. Ten of them gave a bad report while the other two remained true to what God had told them and spoke His words to the people. The results were devastating. A whole generation missed out on their inheritance because they listened to the words of the majority. As in this case, we often discover the majority isn’t always right.

It’s no wonder David said in Psalms 141:3 “Set a guard over my mouth Oh Lord and keep watch over the door of my lips”. Or why James said in chapter 1 of his book “My dear brothers and sisters be quick to listen and slow to speak…”

If your mouth has gotten you into trouble in the past, you might want to try to be more like David and ask God to put a filtering system on your tongue because only He can tame it. And try to listen more and talk less - or at least think more before you speak. It just might guard you from those loose-lipped comments that can cause a fiasco.