Taming the Tongue

Sometimes our mouth really gets us in trouble. A man working in the produce department was asked by a lady if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, "Half a head? Are you kidding? God grows these in whole heads and that's how we sell them!" "You mean," she persisted, "that after all the years I've shopped here, you won't sell me half-a-head of lettuce?" "Look," he said, "If you like I'll ask the manager." She indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. "You won't believe this, but there's a lame-braided idiot of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce." He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store." And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half" he concluded. Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, "That was the finest example of thinking on your feet I've ever seen! Where did you learn that?" "I grew up in Grand Rapids, and if you know anything about Grand Rapids, you know that it's known for its great hockey teams and its ugly women." The manager's face flushed, and he interrupted, "My wife is from Grand Rapids!" "And which hockey team did she play for?" Our mouths get us into a lot of trouble. Maybe that’s why James talks so much about the tongue. 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. The word "perfect" literally means "mature" or "healthy". When you go to the doctor and say, I'm not feeling good. The first thing he says is "Stick out your tongue." Doctors can tell a lot about your physical health by having you stick out your tongue. And God can tell a lot about your spiritual health by looking at your tongue. So watch what you say. Use your tongue to encourage people and praise Jesus.