A postman drove his van up to a house to deliver the post.  He started chatting to the next door neighbour who was just taking his dog for a walk.  They discussed what great pets they were.  When the postman turned to go, a very large Rottweiler charged out and began biting the tyres of his van.  He could hear air gushing out of his tyr.  The owner came rushing out and grabbed the dog, full of apologies he offered to pay  for a new tyre.  Jaws can do a lot of damage!  Hyena’s have such a powerful bite they can crunch bones into small pieces and digest it.  Jaws can be very destructive.  However some of the worst jaws are on people.  

 

God formed the ivory gates of our mouth out of some of the strongest material in our bodies.  You might say they are there to guard against ill spoken word from the tongue.  Perhaps sometimes it would be appropriate if we bit our tongue to prevent saying things we later regret.  Ephesians 4 v29 says “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”  I have noticed that some times the thoughts in my mind get claustrophobic, and go for a sudden stroll out of my mouth….their escape is rarely a good thing.”  It embarrasses me when I realise the serious repercussions of their hasty ill-timed arrival. 

 

Careers are ruined and relationships fall apart.  So often the words that exit our mouths are negative and critical.  You know I find it so easy to see the faults in others but yet so difficult to see my own, why is that?  Let’s make our words few, truthful, helpful and loving.  When someone is rude to you be polite to them.  When someone hates you show love.  When someone is aggressive towards you show humility.  When someone makes sarcastic comments about you be complimentary to them.  When someone steals from you, give them a gift of something they need. When you fall out with a friend and they are mainly to blame, you apologise, because it is likely to bring you together again.  Those who abuse us, those who treat us badly, those we dislike, may need our love more than our close friends.  An  alien concept to us perhaps, but that I believe is how the Saviour behaved in His relationship with humans while on this earth.