A Greek philosopher once asked his servant to prepare the best possible dish ever. So the servant whipped up a platter of tongue and served his master explaining, “It is the best of all dishes because with it, you may bless and communicate happiness, dispel sorrow, remove despair, cheer the fainthearted, inspire the discouraged and say 100 other things to uplift mankind.”
Some time passed when the philosopher asked his servant to do just the opposite, prepare the worst possible dish he could even imagine. To the master’s surprise, his servant prepared the very same platter of tongue, but this time explaining, “It is the worst of all dishes because with it, you may curse and break human hearts, destroy reputations, promote discord and strife, and set families, communities and nations at war with each other.”
The tongue is incredibly powerful. Jesus’ half brother, James, preserved this truth with these immortal words, “The tongue is a flame of fire. It can set a whole life on fire. Sometimes it praises the Lord; sometimes it curses those made in His Image. Blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.”
Do your words get you into trouble occasionally? I suspect you’d rather use your tongue to encourage and strengthen. We’ll be covering the subject of our tongues more fully this coming Sunday as we continue in our study of the Proverbs. Why not join us?