"Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." Psalm 141:3 NIV
When I first read that verse several years ago...I closed my eyes...repeated it to myself...and pictured my tongue trying to fight to get through the "gate" of my teeth. I then closed my mouth, clamped my teeth down firmly, and attempted to push my tongue through my teeth. You know what? That tongue could not fight through the "gate" of the clamped down teeth.
How often to do we allow words to come from our mouth that have no business being verbal. Of course our mind thinks a variety of things...the mind is not the focus here...the mind may contain words needing to be "worked through"...never to escape from our tongue through our lips.
I am far from perfect in locking down my teeth to be set as that "gate" that is not to allow my tongue through when there are words that are better left unsaid. When we physically close our lips, bite down on our teeth and hold our tongue in we are capable of trapping inside our escaped thoughts because in clamping our teeth down...we actually allow ourselves time to think about the choice of words or the topic. Stopping (controlling) our tongue from some verbage shows great strength in our character.
Our tongues are small, controllable muscles. They can be used amazingly for the good. When you feel that urge to truly speak your negative mind or when you know that your words may cause more damage than good....remember...you have a gate...clamp those teeth down...stop your tongue!
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