February 22nd 2013

"I said to myself, "I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me." But as I stood there in silence— not even speaking of good things— the turmoil within me grew worse. The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words: "Lord , remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." (Psalms 39:1-5 NLT)

First of all, it has been great going through this journey with you guys. We are now 53 days into this journey. I hope everyone is keeping up. It has been great for me so far.

Now, on with it... When I hear some people talk about how when they found Christ, that not only their actions changed, but they completely stopped using foul language and cursing, it makes me furious. There is nothing that I struggle with more. This Psalm reminds me that I am not the only one going through this struggle, that even King David struggled with his tongue. Here we see the writer of so many awesome songs of praise to God, but he struggles with his tongue. The question I ask both for myself and David, is: how can the same mouth that lifts praises to God in one moment spit out such filth in the next?
Jesus' half brother James answers this question well in James chapter 3.
"Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself." (James 3:2, 5, 6 NLT) James recognized the battle that goes on with the tongue. For some of us, this is an everyday battle, and we win or we lose a little at a time. There is definitely a spiritual aspect to this, even though I mostly see it as environmental. But Paul says that our Battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness. (2 Corinthians 10:4) Satan is trying to steal the praise of God from our lips. What is the easiest way for him to do this? Fill our mouths with curses. The only way to get through these battles is to realize that we are helpless on our own, and we have a Savior that we can turn to for help.

I am helpless on my own.


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