A Gentle Tongue 

Think of words spoken to you recently that brought life and some that left you shredded.

Never mind the US Second Amendment; we all carry a lethal weapon – the tongue! Does that ring bells close to home? Are there words you wished you could take back, almost as they left your mouth?

James unpacks the extraordinary power for good and ill that the tongue carries. No instrument comes near it for its multi-purpose versatility. It doesn’t take us long to discover whether someone has a life-giving or toxic tongue.

Yet astonishingly, when the Holy Spirit is genuinely in control of us and our tongue, it can be an instrument of healing, tenderness, and comfort. How much we need that in this devastating period of the pandemic.

Our version here (ESV) says ‘a gentle tongue is a tree of life’ – the very tree God provided in the Garden of Eden to nourish and sustain Adam and Eve. It’s the tree we find again in Revelation 22.2, dispensing ‘healing to the nations’. Talk about a ‘vaccine’ the whole world needs!

The fruit of gentleness we display in our conversations is more therapeutic than we can imagine. “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger…..,” fear, anxiety, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy and worthlessness, causing deep pain.

“He [Jesus] will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering reed he will not snuff out,” prophesied Isaiah. Gentleness coloured Jesus’ life of giving and suffering, but look at its healing power.

John Stott wrote, “There is always an indefinable something about people who have suffered. They have a fragrance that others lack. They exhibit the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” If you are suffering now, let the Holy Spirit shape gentleness into your life. It will become healing to others.

 What aspect of gentleness do you want God to be working into your life today? Who is there around you needing healing and nourishing instead of harshness and criticism?

Prayer:

Soften my heart and tongue Lord today, so that my presence and words bring your Presence, gentleness, and love to the broken-hearted. Keep me from speaking words that damage, hurt, and cause distress, Amen.