Taming the Hellfire Tongue

by Robin Gray

I want y’all to know that I’m not one of those religious bloggers that has it all together.  Most of the people who know me well know that I have made many, many mistakes in my life.  I was raised in church and put on the straight and narrow path as a child, but I detoured a lot along the way.  My spiritual journey looks more like a mouse maze than a ride down a straight one lane highway with no exits.  I take exits.  All of them.  And I get lost sometimes.  

I pray and read my Bible because I need God.  I need him to help me not make the same mistakes over and over again.  And I need him to help me straighten out the mess when I invariably make them, anyway.

I admit it, I’m a mess.  And if you’re a mess too, then welcome to my tribe.  This blog’s for you.

Hissing, spitting, throwing peanuts…

I have been really stressed lately.  Life is trying and complicated for millions of people across our beautiful nation and the entire world right now.  A deadly virus and economic uncertainty has put many of us on edge.  This is uncharted territory for everyone.  And I don’t respond well to stress.  I heard Joyce Meyer say once that when you are squeezed, what is inside you will come out of you.  I suppose that’s true, because when I’m squeezed in stressful situations what comes out of me is often anger laced with profanity (yes, I know.  God and I are working on it).  I look like the baboon at our local zoo when I was a little girl.  I’m a hissing, spitting monkey throwing peanuts at everybody who rattles my cage.

Last week I did some hissing and spitting at someone I dearly love.  I was stressed, and what came out of me was rage.  As soon as the angry words left my lips I could feel the Holy Spirit tap me on the shoulder, and almost see Jesus peak around the corner and say, “Really???”  I’m sure that’s what he was thinking; “Really?  You’re going back to that way of doing?  You’re going to do the one thing you always did to ruin every good relationship you ever had?  That’s where we are now?”  

And I responded, “No.  This is not where I want to be again.  Help me.”

Set a guard over my mouth…

Ever so close, the Holy Spirit whispered, “Set a guard over my mouth.”  I followed the prompt and looked up the verse.  “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)  Yes, Lord.  I’m going to need a lot of help. 

The entire third chapter of James is dedicated to the power of the tongue.  “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5-6)  Yikes.  Sometimes I have a hellfire tongue.  I have experienced my life being set afire by my angry words.  The last thing I want is to go down that path again.  Help me, Lord.

And then there’s this:  “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9-10) Again, Lord, I’m going to need a lot of help here.

A blessed mess…

I have had to learn that when I fail to honor God and others with my untamed tongue, I need to humble myself and ask for forgiveness.  That’s not an excuse for me to be brash and hateful again when the mood strikes me.  But it is an acknowledgement that I know I am wrong, and I’m honestly sorry for my behavior.

Like I said, God and I are really working on this.  I’m sure I will fail again at some point.  Brother James says that a person who can control their tongue is perfect, and I am a long way from perfection.  I’m just trying to be a better person today than I was yesterday.  Fortunately for me (and you), I have a Savior who has accepted me just the way I am, but loves me too much to leave me there.  I am truly a blessed mess.  So we’ll keep working on it, and I’ll keep telling myself, “You might be wrong.  You might be wrong.  You might be wrong,” before I go off on an angry tirade of hissing, spitting, and throwing peanuts.

Let Love guide me, Lord.  Let Love be the guard over my mouth and my words.

“I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.  May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:1-3)