Me and my big mouth, what a pair we are.  Wrecking havoc with weapons of words. Someone told me that hurtful words are like nails being hammered in..you can pull out the nail, but there is a hole left in the wood.  The damage is done, being sorry afterward still doesn’t fill the hole.  Even as careful as I am now, there are times I want to grab words at the speed of light before they get away and into some one’s heart, so they won’t hurt.  I still mess up.  I still hurt and receive hurt and it hurts.

The morning we all packed up and left the comfort of the beach cottage I was sad and I allowed my words to sneak out ahead of my brain and I so wish I could of grabbed the dumb ones.  It is just so darn easy to slip up, after all we are only human as they say.  Somehow I don’t think that is a good excuse.  Those snappy remarks I said out loud still ring in my ears….funny thing is I really just wanted to yell…I HATE to leave this oasis of peace and return to real life, I just wanna stay!!!!!!!  Me and my big mouth.

Heading to church with my son the next day, the car was filled with loud angry words…over nothing of significance…just fussing.  For goodness sakes I thought we are on the way to church!!  Silence came when we opened our doors in the parking lot, I almost wanted to laugh at us, how we could just turn it off like that. After the sermon, my son said gosh God sure was sending me a message, I am so sorry Mom..me too son. Me too.

Joy does not come from finding fault in others, it comes when we choose to seek the best parts of people.  Dig deep, keeping quiet until we find the good..the pieces that God sees in us when we cannot.  I love those parts, the good things we find hard to see in ourselves, much less in others.  “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29  Really-think about this verse, say it slowly, purposefully, it is powerful.  God even takes the time to add in, only say what is going to build that other person up, okay, boy is He specific. Funny thing is if we tried to do what He asks of us, it would create powerful changes, in me, in others.

So, I am on a mission now, a cleansing of my mouth, washing my words with soap before they fall out.  It takes discipline, and prayer, and sometimes I fail, but always, always, God is there to help me. It’s the results I love, the aftermath of my mouth bath that smells so good to me and to the world.  I am creating less holes that need healing and more building up, and that is good in His sight.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

“The tongue has the power of life and death..” Proverbs 18:21