Connecting the Rudder with the Radar

UV 881/10,000 Connecting the Rudder with the Radar Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: James 1 v 19 Our tongue is set within a full guard of 32 teeth. Only the very important persons in the world receive a full guard of 32 standing 24 hours x the whole of their lives. Similarly, there are 32 scripture verses that speak about the right use of the tongue. Each of these is like a tooth that guards the tongue. The human tongue is so vital, so important- a spring of life or death. Our natural tendency is to be swift to speak, slow to hear and quick to get angry. It takes training, practice and transformation to develop the supernatural tendency advocated in the above uni-verse, summed up in the formula: SSS. When we are slow to speak or quick to listen, it becomes a spring of life. When we are swift to speak, slow to listen and quick to giving vent to our anger, bitterness, sarcasm, hatred- it becomes the very trap door of death and our downfall. We hear of ENT or Ear, Nose and Throat specialists but we never hear of a specialist of the tongue. It is quite a hardy organ and it is itself rarely subject to sickness. St James was something of a “tongue specialist” for he constantly harped on this point as no one else has in all of history -if we can bridle or rule over our tongues, we can rule over our whole bodies. St James compared the tongue to the bit that controls the horse and the rudder that guides the ship. To use the metaphor of modern day aviation, the tongue is the joystick in our mouth. The problem is that it is so flexible that it can flex in any direction. One moment it can spout wisdom and the next, venom. It is a forked organ. But how can we rule over our tongues? We need to connect the rudder with the radar- our spirits that should sense what we should speak aptly in different occasions and times. First, we must be swift or sensitive and eager to hear the Word of God and the words of others. Second, we must wait for our turn to speak and not be in great haste to speak. Third, we must weigh our every word in our minds and chose our tone too. Fourth, the Spirit of God should rule over our minds, hearts and bodies. St James addressed his audience as “ beloved brethren”. Our attitude too should be that of brotherly love towards our audience, whether it be one listener, a few or many. Our hearts feed our mouths. Hence, we need to constantly empty our hearts of anger, bitterness, hatred, fears, conceit, contempt, pride, jealousy, discontentment, covetousness and fill it with love, forgiveness, kindness, joy, peace, patience, humility, grace, goodness, faithfulness.. We need to develop our spiritual taste buds on our tongues in favour of the latter and towards repulsing or vomiting the former. Our speech should be wise and edifying or wholesome and contributing to building up the faith, hope and love of the listeners. When the Holy Spirit rules over our spirits, minds and bodies, our hearts will manifest these supernatural fruit. Our mouths should always speak the good confession of faith. We agree with God when we speak the positive. We agree with satan when we speak the negative. By the words we use we call events and circumstances to ourselves as a man would call a puppy to come running towards him with his whistling. Prateep V Philip