your tongue is evil

the Bible says your tongue is evil. here are a few references...

• Psa 50:19 Your mouth is filled with wickedness, and your tongue is full of lies.
• Psa 52:2 All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you're an expert at telling lies.
• Jam 3:6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

It amazes me that we as humans can, in the same breath, bring blessing and curses. now, naturally, this isn't just from our tongue. our whole nature is involved. sin. it's the root cause of the cursing, whereas God's perfect nature is the root of the blessings.

so why am i bringing this up? well, multiple reasons really. i have a tendency to say the meanest things to the people i love the most. when i'm in a bad mood, i don't keep it to myself. i have a very short fuse at times and the smallest of things will set me off. usually it's family. my dogs. and the driver ahead of me.

as well, i feel my tongue is not only controlled by my sinful nature, but my tongue (and yours) is controlled by the very things that make it unique... taste buds! that's right, i said it. taste buds control my tongue, and thus control me, or at least try to.

(Golden Girls tv show flashback coming...) Picture it... Your kitchen, 2012, you stand in front of two plates. on the left is a plate full of cold, dry lettuce. on the right is a fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon roll topped with pecans and cream cheese frosting. you have a choice. you know you have a choice. your brain says one thing, your tongue screams another.

you tell me, who usually wins? the brain or the tongue? ok, maybe cinnamon rolls aren't your thing and you are one of those very few people in the world who lives for salad. Picture it: Your kitchen, 2012, you stand in front of two plates. on the left is a plate of lettuce. on the right is a plate of lettuce, egg, ham, bacon, crutons, cheese, and drizzled on top is creamy ranch dressing. NOW who wins? the left (brain) or the right (tongue)?

if you're not ever saying the right side, you're lying, and hence your tongue is evil anyway, no matter what food you choose! :-)

seriously though. my tongue (taste buds) lies to me. i know it, God knows it, and the tongue sure as heck knows it because it often gets exactly what it wants! it's like that famous picture in the cartoons is actually true. the one where you have two angels atop your shoulders. the heavenly angel on the left and the devilish angel on the right. we are constantly faced with decisions. constantly! and no, we don't always get it right.

we rarely think before we speak. more often than not we scream out before counting to 5, or 10, or 30. we're selfish as a whole and we want temporary pleasure more than anything. that's just the way it is people.

but at least now i'm aware that my tongue is filled with much more than verbal wickedness. now i can control it better. i can tell it, "you don't control me. i'm not here to give YOU pleasure. my very existence in this world is not to live to eat all the sugary, salty goodness out there & make you happy. here, taste this fruit and shut up!"