Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Philippians 4:4-8

Do you want to have the right stuff coming out of your mouth? Watch what goes into your mind and your heart. Be careful what you think about, because you’re liable to speak what you think.

My father was famous for Freudian slips. He was a true southern gentleman with Victorian sensibilities. He was a master of euphemism and had been brought up in a time when animals sweat, men perspired and women glowed. Even body parts as innocent as arms and legs were better referred to as limbs, especially if they belonged to ladies.

When I was eleven years old, our family was moving from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Montreat. We had to move ourselves. After we had made several runs in a pickup truck to Montreat, a dear couple in our Charlotte congregation came to assist us with the last load. For this occasion, we had rented a large truck, which would be driven by this man. He and his wife helped load the furniture into the truck and when the task was completed and the house was empty, we sat around on the living room floor in the empty house.

The woman was wearing rather short shorts, all the more noticeable because she was a plus-size person. In the absence of furniture on which to recline, her proportions were all the more conspicuous. The conversation turned to sports, baseball in particular: “Pastor Wood, when you were a boy, Babe Ruth was still playing, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, in fact, he was playing when I was a young man.”

“Did you ever get to see him?”

“Yes, and I’ll never forget it. Naturally, all eyes were on him, even as he was warming up. I remember, he walked over and picked up one of those legs … BATS, he picked up a bat. I don’t know why I said legs.” Of course, everyone else could guess why he said legs.

There is no doubt I take after my father. Early in our marriage, before the advent of cell phones, I waited for Susan to return from the dentist. I decided to forego lunch until she arrived so we could dine together. She had expected to arrive by noon. The longer I waited, the more determined I was not to give up, but my appetite was increasingly ravenous.

Around 1:45 p.m. her car came into view. When I opened her door and she tried to speak, it was evident that the Novocain had not worn off. I tried to focus on her feelings, until she asked, “Can you tell that the side of my face is numb?”

I responded, “Honestly, yes. You ought to go look at yourself in the refrigerator.”

When Jesus says, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks,” that is the truth. If you’re having trouble with what comes out of your mouth, it’s a warning that tells you what’s inside. You need to ask God to clean up what’s inside. James tells us that no man can tame the tongue, but guess who can? God’s Holy Spirit can. That’s why we must yield to him and ask him to change us from the inside out.

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