Taming The Tongue – Episode 18 In James 3:3 he talks about the power of the tongue. In this episode, Felice discusses how some of us need a good dose of taming the tongue in our everyday lives. Can you imagine a world where we are encouraged and uplifted, it can be done and it begins with us. Sponsor! Overcomer Movie Trailer URL for Overcomer Movie:   Site URL for the Overcomer Movie How often have you said something you regret, to your spouse, your children, or someone else close to you? Why is it that we hurt the people we love the most? Often, as parents we often find ourselves saying things in anger, frustration and then wished for a do-over? The good news is we do get a do-over each and every day, but truthfully our frustrations often occur in direct correlation to our experience and relationship with God. Recently I was in church and praying. As I was praying to the Lord, a strong thought of anger came over me of an injustice that happened in my life. It wasn’t a big thing but it was something that hurt me. In my mind, I knew it was silly to be upset because I understood the action behind the cause of my pain was not intentional, yet the more I thought about it the angrier I became. So angry in fact that I almost got up and left the church! I realized my mistake, repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness and the Lord relieved me of the burden of hurt. When we talk about taming the tongue, the same goes for words that are left unsaid. Sometimes we don’t know what to say and even our silence can cause harm to those we love. God said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. These are what I call heart issues. We know things in our heart but our minds are a different story. Faith changes our heart. It fills our heart with every good thing. If God’s will is in your heart you will know what to do in difficult situations, and in times when there is nowhere else to turn but to God for the answers. Life often throws us into situations where we feel totally out of control. Ask any parent of young children. One minute everything is going well and the next minute chaos! You can’t help but cry out to God in times such as this rather than losing your temper. It never helps. I use to say, I have to yell because I’m Italian, and once I yell I feel better. This might be true, but I can guarantee while I felt better my kids didn’t. Taming the Tongue: Great Scriptures: Colossians 4:6:  Ephesians 4:29 Proverbs 10:19 Proverbs 15:4 Matthew 15:11 Psalm 34:13 Proverbs 15:1-2 Proverbs 6:16-19 So, how do you apply this to your life? Taming the Tongue 101: When you want to lash out, take a deep breath – pause. Prepare a statement – I’m so angry I don’t know what to say right now, but let me pray about it and I will let you know later. Avoid confrontation – yes, you need to address bad behavior (with your kids) but, avoid arguing. Start with – what you did is not right, Avoid character assassination. Address the sin, not the person. What is really going on here? Relationship – it is all about love, the love of God within us and the fruits of the Holy Spirit – the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the peace and joy that only God can give. I believe that many times when we lose it and we are upset many times it is because of what we believe the problem is rather than what it actually is – what I mean by this is often when we listen, (which we don’t want to because we are angry!) then we realize much of what we were upset about really isn’t valid. And if it is, take a breath and use a prepared statement! Listen, no one said life is easy, there are often ups and downs in each person’s life that is a struggle, but if we take the time and make a plan, we can sure work toward taming the tongue and having fewer regrets in life! You won’t want to miss the next upcoming episode – with Deanna Bartalin who wrote a book on the topic and has a wealth of great ideas that are applicable The post Taming the Tongue appeared first on Ultimate Christian Podcast Radio Network.