Adopted from Gary Eby
Some people just have a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. They are being, “Hung by the Tongue!”
A state trooper pulled a man over for speeding on a deserted road. Since the road was clear and the weather fine, the trooper had indicated that he may not give the man a ticket, and let him off with a warning. He even complemented both the man and his wife for wearing their seatbelts. At that point the woman leaned over and said, “Well, officer, when you drive the speeds we do, you have to wear them.” That’s when the trooper wrote the ticket. Hung by the Tongue!
Gene and Carolyn were entertaining for the first time since the birth of their baby. Everything ran smoothly until one of Gene’s buddies arrived with his new girlfriend—a woman whom Carolyn did not particularly care for. She beckoned her husband upstairs with the excuse that they had to check on the baby. In the privacy of the nursery, she spoke freely of her disdain for the new guest. When they went downstairs to rejoin the party, they were greeted with an awkward silence—except for the occasional murmuring of the sleeping baby that came from the infant monitor sitting on the table. Hung by the Tongue!
There is an ancient Japanese proverb that says, “A tongue three inches long can kill a man six feet tall.”
If you are continually being “hung by your tongue,” you can be “loosed from the noose” if you would just learn to engage your mind a little bit before you speak! Here’s the process: Think... then speak! I believe that we need to make our words sweet—just in case we have to eat them!
The words of your mouth are a creative force. They play a big part in predestining your future. Your words are the architects of your life. The tongue is like a tool. We need to use our tools of the present to build the future we desire.
You see, your future will someday be your present. Your present will someday be your past. You can chart the course of your future by your compass... your tongue. It will guide you like a rudder... into either troubled waters or a calm sea. But, don’t be misled... it WILL guide you.
If you can change what you think about, you can change what comes out of your mouth. What comes out of your mouth will someday be in your future.
The words you speak create an atmosphere. If you are going to have a meeting and you really pump it up and build it, what happens? People come with expectancy! They come excited. Your words have set the stage for success! One of the foundational revelations of a wise leader is to learn to control his or her words!
Remember, Samson slew 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Way too many businesses, lives and relationships are destroyed with the same weapon.
Be loosed from the Noose! Refuse to be... Hung by the Tongue
