Talking Out of Both Sides

Talking Out of Both Sides

The official week of gratitude is upon us.  And I just have one question: How is it Thanksgiving already?  Wow, 2018 is on its way out in a hurry.

Being that it's Turkey Week, I'll keep my post brief.  I was driving to my day job today and began reflecting on all gratitude challenges going on during the month of November.  You know the ones...you have to say or write down something you're grateful for each day.  I'm all for these types of challenges, so much so that I'm even doing one myself.  I'm writing down one thing I'm grateful for each day of November in my planner.  It's wonderful to realize how very many blessings I have in my life at any given moment.  That's all due to an amazing Father who has blessed me far beyond anything I deserve.

And yet...as I was driving and thinking about gratitude today, suddenly a Scripture came to mind that I just read in my devotional study early this morning:

 "But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 

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 come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." -James 3:8-10

It was the last verse that stood out to me today: Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. Ouch. You see, I have to confess that this has definitely been true of my mouth within the past 5 days.

Around 3am Thursday morning, our electricity unexpectedly went out during an ice storm.  When it happened I thought, no biggie, simply because in the past when our electricity has gone out, it tends to come back on in a matter of minutes.  This time, it was 3 whole days.  

Once we finally moved back in from our 3 day mini "vacation" (my parents were gracious enough to house 4 humans and our dog), I thought the trouble was over.  Wrong.  Yesterday, we discovered that a rodent decided our vacant/ powerless house during the days we were gone would make a nice home for him/ her and has taken up residency in our pantry, feasting on our bread, tortillas, and leaving his/ her "presents" all over the place. 

Here I am in the middle of a Gratitude Challenge, and yet, I can assure you, blessings have not been the only things spilling from my lips these past few days.  I am so guilty of James 3:10. One minute, I'm praising God for a reliable vehicle with new tires just in time for winter.  The next minute, I'm lamenting all of the ruined freezer food we lost in the power outage.  One mouth->two sides->blessings and curses.

Today's reminder of James 3:8-10 was just what I needed to be convicted of my double-sided words.  Isn't that just like the Lord to so gently convict with His timeless wisdom by impressing it upon my heart at the right time?

This year at my Thanksgiving table, I pray that the Lord will give me wisdom to speak only blessings and hold back the curses.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kristin

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