Even after years of coaching, training, scripture reading, teaching, leading, parenting, partnering, and practice, I’m still betrayed by my mouth.
I still drop little slip-ups, slurs, and an occasional foul word from time to time. I often stay silent, neglecting to say the right thing, even when I know it will make a difference. Sometimes I find myself babbling on and on. I’ll listen to myself and think, “What are you talking about?!”
I say I’m for peace, then I yell at my kids. I declare myself to be a gossip-free zone, then find myself talking about the latest thing that didn’t go my way, careful to assess blame in the “proper place.” And let’s just say I don’t always speak well of the people with whom I share the road.
I’m ashamed; I should know better. Sometimes I apologize, but mostly I hope no one notices. But I notice.
And I notice that I’m betrayed not only but what comes out of my mouth, but also by what goes in.
My taste buds seem to operate with a force and desire completely uncontrollable. I know what to eat and what not to eat; what promotes good health and what doesn’t. And I start off each day with determination to eat and drink the “right things.” But usually by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, my determination is worn down and my taste buds win. I find myself eating something unhealthy as if my hands and mouth belong to an alien that’s taken over.
I don’t think I’m alone.
James writes that the tongue (I’ll say the mouth) is the most powerful force in the human body. With it we can build up or tear down. We can promote health, or hasten disease. We can strengthen community or destroy it.
But the mouth is not really the problem. Strength and weakness are attributes of the heart, mind, and soul; the mouth is just a portal to what lies within.
If there is a fresh spring welling up inside of me, my mouth will be a fount of life.
If I am depressed, my mouth will reveal it in its speaking and eating.
In other words, healthy speaking, eating, and living are symptoms of a personal will aligned with the will of God.
That’s why James also says, “The prayers of one right with God are a powerful thing to be reckoned with.” Those prayers heal, give life, and build up because they spring from God’s own desire. And for the one right with God, the body itself is a hollow temple housing God’s very spirit. For the one right with God, the mouth is no problem.
I think my speech and my eating habits are indicators of the relative strength/weakness of my interior life. They point me back to relationship with God and neighbor, like warning signals alerting me that something needs attention.
But your, "mouth", is also a very prophetic thing. You speak for those who have little or no voice, you point out what many of us would rather not see, you challenge those who- go along to get along.
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