True Woman - how to control your tongue

How to Control Your Tongue

How can you become a woman who does not sin with her tongue?*

• humble yourself
• put off all slander and evil speaking
• put on words of kindness, love, forgiveness, and grace
• bring your thought life under the control of the Spirit
• talk less
• think before you speak
• refuse to listen to, slander, or gossip about others

Listen to or read more from “How to Control Your Tongue”

From Titus 2 we read the basis for this devotional:

³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Older women.....not slanderers....
So what does it mean to not be a slanderer?
To slander means:

• words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another
• defame: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation"
• aspersion: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name

So basically, it's talking in such a way that it causes damage to another person. Particularly if it's a lie. But if one slanders another, you are casting aspersion on their name, so be mighty careful how you talk of others. Build them up, don't cast them down. Whether it's the truth or not.

Yes...it is so very easy to gossip. To mention this that or the other tidbit about what's going on in the lives of people around you, or even in the periphery of your life.
Don't do it.
Are you helping the person?
Are you solving a problem?
Is the person you are talking with part of the problem or the solution? if not BUTT OUT. seriously folks.
If you are just chatting for the sake of chatting Stop it!

Don't hurt other folks by what you are saying about them. We are called to better than that.

I've had to learn this myself. To stop and say...
1. am I breaking a confidence?
2. would I want someone to talk about me this way?
3. am I helping this person or not?
4. am I talking with the person that I aught to be talking with this about.

I have learned the following:
yes...my hubby can act as a sounding board.
yes, my hubby can advise me on what to, and what not to say.
talking with him serves me a purpose - helps me check my heart and spirit in matters that "sit with me"....
AND it helps me to moderate what I say to others.

In her article/devotional, Nancy lists seven ways that we can combat the 'sins of the tongue'

1. humble yourself before God and others
   
2. put off all slander and evil speaking
3. put on a heart and words of kindness, love, forgiveness and grace
4. bring your thought life under the control of the Spirit
5. talk less
6. think before you speak
7. refuse to listen to slander or gossip about others

It all makes sense doesn't it?
Make choices in how you live before God and your fellow man.
Make choices in how you will talk and what you will listen to.
Control your thinking patterns...watch for envy, bitterness, jealousy and such like. These things lead to ill talk. Purge them from your life as much as you can.
Lead a life of humble repentance.

Women! Let us change the world by watching how we live and talk! :)