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Taming of the Tongue

James 3:7-8 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.

I have been prompted several times to use this verse and am finally doing so today.  I will fully admit that my tongue is something I ask God to work on continually.  When I think of taming the tongue, my mind is drawn to swearing because that is my personal struggle.  I realize that taming the tongue can be related to lots of things: gossip, rudeness, temper, deceit, slander, biting comments and so on.  Unfortunately, what comes from our mouths is an outpouring of our hearts, which is convicting.  So what have I learned?  When I ask God to remove swear words from my vocabulary, what I really need to look at is much deeper than the swear words.  What causes me to swear?  I know that for me it is ridiculous things such as road rage or frustration that has built up for a day or an entire week.  I have asked God to change my heart so that these things do not get to me in such a way as to cause anger and  swearing.  I can actually see a change in my reactions.  God is at work and He is changing my heart so that anger and frustration are rarely a part of my responses to situations.  Therefore the manifestation of my anger through swearing has also been lessened.  Praise God for His work in my heart change!  Oh, I still screw up now and again, but the screw ups are coming less and less as I continue to hand over my heart to God.  What is your tongue telling you about a deeper change that God is looking to make in your life?

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