Safe in our mouth

        After a rainy Monday, what a gloriously sunny, lovely Tuesday!  Thank You, Lord!
       And on this beautiful day, I had the privilege of walking and praying with some very dear friends...and can I just say, that's a fabulous way to pray.  Seriously, walking keeps your mind alert and undistracted and praying with friends, well, Jesus said that "where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them." (Mt.18:20)  Jesus right there amongst us--what could be better than that?
        Not to mention, anything done with friends is a beautiful gift, don't you think?  So, praying with Jesus and friends and enjoying God's magnificent creation all at the same time, let's just say that's a totally "peak experience," to quote my wonderful sister, Mary Norris.  (And just to put that in perspective, my sister and I used that term to describe going together in 1982 to New Orleans to watch our beloved Tar Heels win the NCAA basketball championship.  Yessirree, that was a peak experience...but so is walking and praying with friends.)
        Good grief, I digress.  After all those long-winded words, I'm gonna get to the point.  While we were walking and praying, our friend, Becky, used a beautiful phrase that I both loved and that really convicted me.  She prayed that other people would be "safe in our mouths."
       Becky said she read the phrase a while back.  It referred to a young child's answer to the question of how to describe love.  He said that when someone loves us, "we are safe in their mouths."
        Are your friends, are your family, are other people safe in your mouth?  Are you someone who covers over an offense of a friend...or are you someone who broadcasts it?  Are you looking for ways to encourage others...or searching for any little thing that might tear them down?  Are you quick to assume the best of those you love and their motives...or are  you too hasty in doubting, questioning, and assuming the worst?  Do you build up others with your words...or demolish and destroy?
       James put it this way: "With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so" (James 3:9-10)
       In other words, how dare I proclaim my adoration for God and at the same time ever speak hateful or unkind or gossipy words about the eternal souls He created, He died for, and He rose again to redeem!  Oh forgive us, forgive us, forgive us, Father, when words that destroy and demean come out of our mouths.  Those kinds of words are like toxic poison--poisoning us and poisoning those who hear them.
        Forgive me for anytime those that I love have not been "safe in my mouth."
        This day and every single day of our lives, might we ask God to enable us to use words that bless, magnify, and glorify our Almighty Lord and that build up, encourage, and edify the people He has so graciously put in our lives.
        Might our wonderful Jesus, and all of His children, be safe in our mouths.
        To God be the glory.