What kind of person do I want to be? When I was a child, I wanted friends so we could play. At high school I was very concerned with what the girls thought about me. At my first job, I focused on making a good impression on my boss. At each point, I have deliberately taking steps to achieve my ‘person-I-want-to-be’ ambition.
Today, I work at a university, with colleagues and students from around the world, with different personality types, maturity, and life goals. I am challenged more than ever before, on the question what kind of person do I want to be? One helpful answer that applies to everyone – is about the way we use our tongue.
Proverbs 18:20-21 (God’s Word Translation) says: A person’s speaking ability provides for his stomach. His talking provides him a living. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will have to eat their own words.
Am I the sort of person whose tongue gives life? Is my tongue so sharp that it cuts, or so pointed that it stings, or perhaps so deceptive that it ignites fires everywhere? What kind of a person am I at home, at work, to my neighbors? How well am I a master of my tongue given that it can open or close doors of opportunity?
Lord God, please teach and discipline me, to use my tongue to give life not death; to use my tongue to open doors not shut them; to use my tongue to become an inspiring person, Amen!
