Guarding Our Mouth (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you once again for giving us this opportunity to minister God's word and spend a few moments in prayer. This week, we’ve been talking about the silence of God and how God can minister to each one of us in His silence. Today, we will talk about guarding our mouth. Psalms chapter 141, verses 3 and 4, ‘Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies.’ Guarding your mouth signifies being mindful of your speech, avoiding gossips, slander and harmful words and choosing to speak truthfully and constructively. Guarding our tongue can be a challenge. Throughout the bible, we read of various examples of men and women who learnt the importance of guarding their mouths and tongues. Often seen as a sign of wisdom, there is a quote which says ‘wise men are not always silent but they know when to be.’ It is important to learn when to speak and when to hold your tongue. It is not always easy but if we get into a practice of tasting our words before we speak them, guarding our mouths and our tongues will be easier. We can be much better at talking than at listening. Job had to admit that he talked too much when he said, ‘surely, I speak of things I did not understand.’ Sometimes, we are guilty of using of what Ephesians calls ‘unwholesome talk’ and too often, we say things that don’t build up anyone but instead brings them down or hurts the person. Sometimes, we may need to do what Job did- he said I put my hand over my mouth or the psalmist says, we should ask the Lord to set a guard over our mouths. James suggest that we should be slow to speak and quick to listen. As Christ’ followers, our speech should reflect Jesus, His ways, seasoned with grace, humility and love. If we confess our faith in Christ, it should be evident in our character and in our speech. Even in disagreements, we should continue to speak with a heart if love for others and not use profanity or offensive words. We should be careful not to grumble or complain but to speak graciously about anyone else, but use our tongue to proclaim thankfulness to the Lord as well as to edify one another. Taming the tongue is something we must grow in each day and ask the Lord to sanctify us. It is not something we can do apart from the grace of God but it is the power of the Holy Spirit enabling us. The temptation to use our tongue for our own benefit and reputation is strong but let us be quick to ask the Lord to help us to continue to grow, to grow in His likeness especially in our speech. Let’s pray, Father, we want to thank you for teaching us once again through your word. I pray that you will enable us to walk in this discipline, to speak good words, edifying words that can encourage and build one another. Grant us your wisdom to fulfill every plan and purpose that we have for our lives, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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