Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
“Our mouth must be hooked to our heart and not our head.”
The tongue is described by James as “fire”, a world of evil, among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell (James 3:6). James goes on to say – no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (vs 8). New Year’s decisions cannot bridle the tongue. Determination of the mind cannot tame the tongue. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to set a guard over our mouth and to keep watch over the door of our lips. When we seek His help, He will warn us before the doors of our lips open to spit out unholy and ungodly chatter. The mind fills our mouth with emotional babbles or intellectual analysis. We must know when to open our mouth and when to swallow the words. Wrong words spoken at the inappropriate time will cause damage. But, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).
People speak or blurt out emotionally when they are excited, enraged or enthralled. Watch over your lips when there is an emotional spike. Our mouth must be hooked to our heart and not our head. Emotions die down but the words that we have spoken or the promises that we have made cannot be retrieved after the emotions recoil.
Guard Your Mouth:
- Excited: Excitement is a momentary feeling based on facts that we know however, the excitement does not last forever. Don’t make impetuous promises based on momentary feelings.
- Enraged: When we are angry, upset or enraged, we must put our hands over our mouth and refuse to speak the thoughts that bombard our mind. Calm down – swallow unwholesome comments, destructive criticisms or self-proclaimed curses.
- Enthralled: Guard your words when you are fascinated by achievements, applause or accolades. Neither gloat nor grunt too quickly. Be sober minded. Guard your mouth.
Give the control of the bridle of your tongue to the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, I cannot control my tongue with my own mental strength. Please take control of the bridle of my tongue. Amen.
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