The Tongue

Today, at Sunday School Class, we were talking about the tongue. "But no human being can tame the tongue. It is restless, full of deadly poison," says James of it. It's difficult for us to face, but it's right. We can do more damage with the tongue than we can if we shoot someone in the leg. Words hurt, a lot. I know that's true, and I'm sure you do too. To tell you the truth, I am shy person. So, for me sometimes, it's not the things I say. It's the things I don't say.

But I have said a lot of things I regret,  and I'm sure you have too.

"People say sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me, but that's not true. Words can hurt. Things were said to me that I still haven't forgotten." -Demi Lovato.

I'm sure you've all heard quotes like this, but I wanted to bring it up. Just think about this: If someone criticize you over the Internet, you would feel hurt. If someone hurt you with their words in person, you would feel really hurt. But what if someone you who loved and cared about, someone who you were close to, hurt you with their words? That would hurt most of all, right? Because you love this person. You care about this person. Even if they don't mean it, it still hurts. It confuses, frustrates you and it hurts.

You see what I'm saying? You might not really care about the person-who-criticize-you-over-the-Internet's opinion. You might care about the person-that-hurts-you-in-person's opinion. But you really care about that one person's opinion, the one that you care about. You care about it more than any of them.

Now think about whenever you hurt someone you love with your words. I'm sure you've done it. We've all have, to our siblings, our parents or our friends. So next time when you're about to totally tell them off, just pause for a moment, and think about how you would feel if they did that to you.
 
 On the other hand, maybe you have been hurt by someone else's words. I know how that feels. I still haven't forgotten some of the words that have hurt me. But what we need to realize, well, what I need to realize is that I am what God's says I am. Nothing more and nothing less. Whoever says I'm anything else, is wrong.

Or maybe you have come to realize that. Maybe what you're struggling with now is forgiveness. Well, I feel you because that's what I struggle with most. I still do. I'm still trying to forgive someone that hurt me a lot with their words. But you know what? I like to compare forgiving with having a baby. It takes a while and it hurts a lot, but in the end, it is totally worth it.

Back to the hurt-by-words thing, I wanted to say, I don't like to call myself beautiful. (Mostly because I don't think I am), but I don't like to call myself flawed either. But you know what I am proud to call myself? Beautifully flawed. Because I am and everything that is saved by God is. We are flawed. We can't avoid it, but because of Jesus, we are beautifully flawed. Because Jesus turns those flaws and sins and makes them beautiful.