Wednesday, June 10, 2015            
       Sometimes I see myself as being either too soft or overly diplomatic, and I suppose it could be because of my upbringing but I hope its mostly because of the Lord. There are times when I wish I could be as straightforward or as blunt, if you will, as some people I know but most of the time, not so much. I am referring to those who don’t blink or stutter when they tell others exactly how they feel about them and clearly point out their defects and faults. I know most of us have had occasions when, after we had the chance to express ourselves, we want to kick ourselves because we either were not too happy with the words that came out or because we forgot to say some things we had planned to say. That has happened to you, right?
       I don’t know if you see yourself as being too soft like me, or too hard, and I hope you don’t see yourself as being exactly where God wants you to be. I do know however, what the Bible says concerning the tongue. In the Epistle of James alone, we are told that the religion of those who can’t control their tongue is vain, (1:26) that though the tongue is a small body member it can cause exceeding great damage. (3:5) We all have seen that firsthand. James 3:8 says: “but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Keep in mind that though man can’t tame it, God can. In other words, with the help of His Holy Spirit, God’s children, can keep their tongue under control, and if we’re honest we’ll all admit we could use some help in that area. If we are led by His Spirit, we will be able to prepare our words carefully before we let them leave our mouth. Colossians 4:6 says it this way: “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer every man.”
       Because we are human, this is one life issue we need to work on daily. May God help us to ever be careful when we interact with others and may one of our goals be to be more like Jesus every day. We all know that He was meek and tender, yet He always got his point across. Because He lives in us, we can be that way too. On the other hand, if you say that you are happy with the way you are already and have no need to change, or else you say you couldn’t care less what others say or think about you, may God especially help you.
 
Memory verse for the week: (Proverbs 16:11) Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of His making.