My Thoughts
I read this book during the 40 days leading up to Easter. Each morning I took jotted a line from the book on the top of my journal page. It was a visible reminder throughout the day to be aware of my words.
Some notes I wrote in my journal:
- Praise not put downs
- Our thoughts are the birthplace of our words
- Don’t say something permanently painful because you are temporarily ticked off.
- Take time to cool down – then address issues
- Are my words truth and hope or confusion and discouragement?
- Listen to the Holy Spirit and be yourself.
- Jesus knows my thoughts. How does he feel about the way I treat myself?
- Put my mouth on a ten-second DRV delay.
- Are my words appropriate, gracious and necessary?
What I liked
- Each day was structured with a Bible verse, a short lesson, Today’s Takeaways, Lessons for the Lips and a prayer.
- There were lots of practical suggestions on how-to’s to use your words to bless and encourage others.
- This isn’t a book you read through in a few hours and then set on your shelf. I feel I gained practical tools for my tool box to help me in my journey of being a blessing and not negative and hurtful with my tongue.
I would recommend it to
Anyone looking for a devotional that has depth and practical application.
Sum it up
The tongue is a powerful tool that can be used to encourage and build up or tear down and hurt. You have the choice on which way you use it.
I have received a copy of this book from Zondervan for an honest review of the product.
Okay, this is a LONG comment, but worth reading. James 3 has a lot to say about this and I never fail to be convicted when I read these words:
1-2 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
3-5 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5-6 It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech, we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7-10 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues, we bless God our Father; with the same tongues, we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10-12 My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Zip It looks like a fantastic book which addresses the problem of controlling our tongue. thanks for sharing it, Nancy. Bless you!
I memorized the book of James last year. James 3 initiated a surrender to Jesus. I realized that no matter how hard I tried on my own, I couldn’t control my tongue. That humbled me as I realized I was powerless to live out vs. 10-12. Only when I surrender to God’s power I find daily victory. Thanks for paralleling James to the book review – you are right, the ultimate source of wisdom on the tongue is the Word of God!