Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

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Week 18 Day 7

Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Ephesian 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

            Were you ever surprised, even horrified by the words you heard coming out of your own mouth? Thoughts come unbidden all the time, frequently they rise up in what I will call the bile of vile thinking when we are at our least charitable, our least kind, and our least forgiving. It becomes a habit unfortunately to judge and measure other people by the jaded and distorted view we cling to of our own superiority. The “old Indian proverb” (and yes I know how politically incorrect that is) that says don’t judge someone else until you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins is, for all of its quaintness, essentially correct.

            James the writer from the New Testament letter was correct when he identified the problem of the tongue. (See Chapter 3 especially verses 5-6, 9) ⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

            Even after so many years of doing my best to follow Christ I find that I am still so easily provoked by frustration and its parasite emotion,  anger,  that cursings and condemnations come all to often unbidden to my lips. The only solution to this oh so human problem is a deeper walk, more of the Holy Spirit, greater consecration and trust on my part, and patient hope and peace through understanding God’s purpose for my life.