"He that would love life and see good days, let him (her) keep the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking guile" (1 Peter 3: 10). When you speak, is your "yes, yes and your no, no" (Matthew 5: 37)? Is what you say helpful? Is it necessary? You can set yourself free from captivity by binding your captor. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18: 21). We can easily reclaim our souls by not giving our enemy access to caustic and cavalier words. Don't let your soul melt away in sorrow for words. Can cursing and blessing come from the same mouth (James 3: 10)? Be assured that there is no esoteric message here. We just have to keep a guard over the door of our lips, especially when in the presence of those who watch us to see if we are authentic; to see if we can be trapped in our speech.
Anger is often related to guilt, but not always. We must "let our speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4: 6). Keeping a guard over the door of our lips has great rewards; our conscience has rest and peace.
In all your seeking, seek meekness. A meek person is not cowardly or spineless. By being meek, we cut oursleves off from rudderless people who have no conscience. We surely must not accept banal philosophies from this fallen world. It is all around us. Release your fears and guilt; confess them to the Almighty and merciful one, who is ever awaiting your conversion. This will make room for joy and fulfillment if you truly desire an ethereal quality of calm in your life.
Consider the following analogy: In the Great Plains of this spacious country, a father and daughter were outside of their farm one day, and they saw a great field fire coming toward their farm. The winds were against them, and so the flames came toward them with unrelenting speed. The little girl cried out of course, and the father started burning a swath of dry grassland around the family farm. The little girl naturally questioned her father as to why he could do such a terrible thing at a time like this. He then proceeded to tell his lovely little daughter that by burning away the surrounding chaff, the fire would not be able to cross the burned-out patch, and so the land would be spared. The fuel for this fire would be cut off.
This analogy speaks to us in a metaphorical way. Our tongue, or more accurately our inner being, is harder to tame than any fire or even an animal for that matter (James 3: 6). We need to burn away anything that causes the tongue to lash out needlessly and without prudent thought. I have found out personally that it is better to listen than to speak. There is surely a time to speak and a time to be reticent (Ecclesiastes 3: 7). I really do believe that wars have been started because of this fire called the tongue.
To be continued
