"The Pink Tornado"

            I had a great morning.  I went to church.  Praised God! Said my Hallelujahs and Amen’s and came home.  I was in very good spirits, until I spied my fiancé sitting there watching TV.  All of a sudden I just started running that flapper and couldn’t stop.  Let me rephrase I was not able to stop because I felt justified at the time in what I was saying.  I really hurt his feelings and I instantly felt bad and apologized. 

            However, that was not the end of things.  I just was so easily irritated today, for no apparent reason.  It was like this battle was raging in my mouth and my tongue lost.  We had another service this evening at church and at the end one of our guest preachers started talking about the power of words and the power of the tongue.

            I proved earlier in the day and on many other days, how hurtful I could be with just a word.  My fiancé often will tell me, “There you go, that pink tornado is on the loose again.”  So, for the last couple of hours I have been thinking about tornadoes.  Not the ones that physically destroy.  The ones we create with our mouths.  The ones that do just as much damage to homes and relationships as a twister will.

            James 3:1-12 talks about taming the tongue.  Verse two states, “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”  We all know that there is no such thing as perfection and that there will be times that our tongues run away from us.   What is in our heart will flow out of our mouths.  That is why when we get angry or upset we tend to say hateful things.  Whether we are telling our loved ones all about themselves, or if we are telling all the people we know someone else’s personal business, true or not. 

            We need to start praying that God create in us a clean heart.  When we strive to have that clean heart our tongues will follow.  Scripture also uses an analogy about our mouths.  It talks about a small spark starting a fire.  Before you know it the whole forest is burned down.  The tongue is very small, but the damage it can cause is very big.  Words, carelessly spoken, cannot be taken back.  Apologies are all well and good, but you wouldn’t have to apologize about something if you caused no harm in the first place. 

            It is often said that the pain of a physical scar will fade faster than the scars that words cause.  When you speak you leave lasting impressions on people.  You may forgive someone for what they have said, but you never forget the pain they caused or what they have said. 

            The good news is that even though we will never be able to fully muzzle our tongue we can stop the process of starting new fires.  Fight the fires you have already started and protect the areas not yet burned.  Ask God for help; let His Holy Spirit work in you and you will see the difference. 

            I started this off telling you why I felt the need to write this.  I, myself, have used careless words.  It is not the first time, but I want it to be my last.  I know that I might make a mistake again, but I can receive the strength the Lord has gifted me with to fight the fire.  The Lord gifted us with fruits of the spirit, Self-control being one of them.  In claiming that gift, that fruit, we can accomplish many things.  Number one being the death of the pink tornado.