So I was having a conversation at work the other day and we were getting motivated to get some projects done and were bouncing ideas around , when someone commented ”why bother, no matter how hard we try it always ends up the same.”
The energy the enthusiasm and the productivity of that conversation ended and the negativity flowed. How does one mindless little statement completely derail what could have been a useful and innovative conversation?
“A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse one crushes the spirit” Proverbs 15:4
Well I guess once again the Bible explains what happened.
What is worse is that I am the one that brought the perverse tongue to the conversation. How easy it is to mindlessly say something that is a fruit of anger and frustration, sure for a brief second it satisfied my need to vent, but what was the outcome of that action?
The outcome was to suck the life and energy out of the conversation and to crush the spirit if you will.
Imagine this situation; you have just accomplished a goal that you have been striving for, spent a couple months working toward this accomplishment, just to have someone make a small comment about how stupid it was or how pointless it has been. You are filled with joy and accomplishment, and yet someone, you may not even know the person, has burst your bubble and left you feeling flat.
The point is that the father of lies can work through all our actions and even the words that come out of our mouths. Our tongue is one of the most powerful weapons we possess; it can be used for great evil or for great good. The tongue is also one of the hardest, at least for me, weapons to control.
As we take the Sword of truth and do battle with ourselves, we must be honest and deal with the areas in which we lack grace, and pray for the grace to overcome our shortcomings.
We must discipline ourselves to do better; only through discipline and practice can we turn that razor tongue into a soothing one. As with everything that is positive in life, we must want it and work to achieve it. The path I have chosen is narrow and difficult to traverse, lots of things to stumble over, but it is the path less taken and the path to life.
Which path are you going to take?
