Just 10 Things
Has your tongue ever gotten the best of you?!
What a foolish question!! Of course it has!
If you are still living and breathing and are still interacting with people both large and small … then your tongue has said things that are probably unnecessary … are likely unkind … and most certainly are sarcastic.
Of course it has!
I have found time and time again that my tongue needs boundaries. Mere “suggestions” are not limiting enough for this one pound piece of muscle that selfishly exists between my pearly whites.
The outright rebellion of my tongue demands immovable boundaries. Although the theme song that my tongue has insisted on singing is, “Don’t fence me in!”, I have discovered that my tongue requires barriers that are a mile high and at least 2 miles wide.
My tongue has tried to circumvent and escape every single limit that I have ever endeavored to spiritually enforce.
What in the world is wrong with my tongue?!!
If you are anything at all like me, and I have an inkling that you are indeed like me, then you have found that your tongue also needs immovable, unshakable borders.
And so today I share with you 2 lists of verbal limits.
The first list is “10 Things That I Will Never Say” and the second list is “10 Things That I Will Say Every Day”.
The amazing invariable about both of these shared lists is that each list will successfully function in parenting, in marriage, in the workplace, in the church and with friendships. These lists transcend circumstance and should be followed everyday of one’s life.
TEN THINGS THAT I WILL NEVER SAY
1. You are driving me crazy!
2. I might love you but I just don’t like you very much right now.
3. Stop talking! Just stop talking! (Often said through clenched teeth.)
4. I will never forgive you for that.
5. You are a liar! (Or any other unflattering name that comes to mind in the heat of the moment.)
6. Now that was the dumbest thing that I have ever heard.
7. I don’t care if I ever see you again.
8. As long as I live, I will never figure you out.
9. You are like fingernails on the chalkboard of life.
10. Who in the world do you think that you are?!
TEN THINGS THAT I WILL SAY EVERY DAY
1. I forgive you.
2. I love you very much. You are always in my heart.
3. There is no one in the world I would rather spend time with than you. You always make me smile.
4. I love you AND I like you.
5. What a gift you are to me! I think you're absolutely amazing!
6. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me the truth.
7. Wow! That’s an interesting suggestion. I always appreciate your input.
8. I am so thankful that you are in my life.
9. You are one of the most creative, kind people that I know. (Or any other encouraging adjective that describes the person as in sweet, thoughtful, smart, brave, etc. You get the picture!)
10. I am so glad that God gave you to me. (Or … I am so glad that God allowed our paths to cross.)
And so, my friend, those are your boundaries for that slippery, slimy, hard to control piece of flesh in the middle of your mouth.
Read these lists often and commit every suggestion to memory. Your world will indeed thank you for it … God will certainly honor you for it … and your heart will remain in sweet and abiding peace.
I guarantee it!
If you can live by the tenets of these 2 lists, you will go through life unashamed of what you have uttered in a moment of frustration and impatience. You will also be overwhelmingly grateful that you enforced these verbal boundaries in your life.
You can do it!
After all … it’s just ten things.
