TIP FOR YOUR LIFE: TAKE CARE OF YOUR TONGUE

TAKE CARE OF YOUR TONGUE … Many essays and stories have been told about the bad use of the tongue – as in the use of bad words. I read somewhere someone saying something like “when you open your mouth, people can tell a lot about you”. In some houses, some villages, some suburbs, it is normal for people to swear and curse. Some curse so much, that they think it is normal to curse everything and anything everywhere. But I have told many that in many environments if you use the tongue in the wrong way, you could be disqualified from some things or could even be penalized severely. I grew up in a house where swearing was not entertained – period! The guardian who imposed the rule has never used a swear word within my earshot – ever. Once, a woman colleague told me about her cursing some people to the point that she was the “victor” in that little debate. She went on and on until I said: “My guardian never cursed people, that’s why I can’t curse people. I know that that is disrespectful!” She stopped talking. You know how some students rate their teachers – by the good/bad words they use, and the tone they use when addressing students, in good times, bad times, stressful times, ergo. The Book of James compares a bad tongue to a fire that can destroy things and people. James 3.6 says that “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.” In many villages, many things and properties have been destroyed when someone starts talking about something without really thinking about the consequences their words could have. James also states that the best men and women are those who control their tongues. James 1.2 says: “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” (NB. Some say the Book of James is the Book of Proverbs of the New Testament. It is full of practical advice.)