Can you touch your nose with your tongue? I once knew a boy who could actually pick his nose with his tongue. He was an idiot and a very good friend. I like people who can do stupid things.
The bible has a lot to say about the tongue and what you can do with it. Admittedly, it says nothing about picking noses, but I had a closer look into it this week. By 'the tongue', the bible is referring to words, their power and how we use them. So, what can you do with your words?
Words can inspire and destroy hope; they can clarify and confuse; they can convey love or hate. As Proverbs 12: 18 says, "The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." This leads me to ask, do I use my words recklessly or wisely, am I wounding or healing? If I am to use my words wisely, the bible seems to say that I should say more loving stuff and less stuff in general. In fact it even says that I will seem wiser if I say very little at all! (Proverbs 17: 28)
But the idea of hardly saying anything doesn't sounds like much fun and it is also not very likely. So for now, I am going to work out how I can be more disciplined in the three situations where I usually go too far with my words.
Email: - It is so easy to cause pain or offence by saying anything negative on email (or facebook etc..). The person reading my message can't see my face so can't judge my tone. Even if I put a smiley face at the end, which I never do, it could be too late. I have learned the hard way with this one.
Gossip: - I don't gossip like a school girl. But I do it in a bloke way. I like to know when people have done outrageous things and I like to tell other people when someone else has been an idiot. I'm going to stop this and replace it with telling good, encouraging stories about people.
Speed of Reply: - When someone says something to me and my reply comes within 0.31 seconds, it isn't usually the greatest response. The thing is, you can't unsay something once you have said it so I am going to take a moment before I respond to someone.
So what can you do with your tongue this week? How many different ways can you encourage your mates at uni with your words? When can you say nothing instead of something hurtful? When can you say something great? Because there will come a day when everyone's words are directed at praising God - so let's get in the habit of it now.
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 9-11, NIV)
