GOD GAVE ME A TONGUE
The Lord GOD has given me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
him that is weary.
Morning by morning he wakens,
he wakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.
Isaiah 50
Surely if we are following Jesus, our tongue is now ordained as an instrument in his service. With my tongue I am to glorify God. With my tongue I am to give strength to my neighbor with a sustaining word.
So why is my tongue so unruly? Why does my tongue seem to let me down again and again? Sometimes my tongue rattles on, almost with a life of its own. And sometimes, when I should speak, my tongue refuses to move.
People have been wounded by my tongue. People have been given false hope by my tongue. And even knowing all this, it seems I still cannot bring this unruly part of me under control.
When we read the gospels, we find that Jesus is sparing with words. He is never verbose. And he tells us that not a word comes from his mouth that did not come from his Father's leading.
And if we claim to be his followers, the Lord Jesus expects us to listen carefully when he instructs us concerning our tongues.
"I tell you, on the dayof judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter;
for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matthew 12
Those of us who claim to be filled with the Spirit need to pay attention to our tongues.
God does.
And if our tongue is too facile, too full of itself, too "loose with the truth," it is an alarming sign that our "life in the Spirit" is a sham.
For wherever the Spirit is in charge, we learn to speak as the Spirit gives us utterance----which means much more than "speaking in tongues." When our heart truly submits to the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, the tongue begins to obey its Master in fear and trembling.
"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil."
Matthew 12