I struggle with my mouth. Not going to lie. I have managed to get myself into more trouble in my life because of my mouth. Our friend Tom (who is 87 years old) has a great saying. “His alligator mouth is about to overload his hummingbird butt.” This is so true for me. Sad, but true.
Too often, I have an alligator mouth.
I have an awful lot of opinions, and foolishly believe I need to share them.
I am 47 years old and it has taken me this long to realize, “Not all opinions need to be shared.” This is far more difficult for me than any workout I do in the gym. In fact, I would rather deadlift 85 pounds than restrain myself from speaking freely. Because holding my tongue is not a talent I possess.
Yet.
I am working on it.
Sometimes, we are like Captain Obvious when we share our opinions. More often than not, when we share our two cents about someone’s bad, selfish, entitled behavior; the person with whom we are sharing this opinion probably already knows. And when we point it out further, we might hurt the person we think we are “trying to help,” even more, with our Captain Obvious observations.
“The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.” - Proverbs 18:7 (NLT)
The mouths of fools are their ruin. Yep. I have trapped myself more times than I can count, with my own two lips. And I hate that about myself, I really do. I know too many people who lash out without thinking and cause lasting damage with their hateful words, and I never want to be like them. I can’t trust those people, anymore, and never confide in people who don’t think before they speak.
We cannot change anyone. But we can change ourselves.
It starts with us. We can pray before we share our opinions. I am learning to ask Papa, “Should I share my opinion here, or keep my mouth shut? Please give me a peace and let me know what I should do.”
More often than not, keeping my mouth shut is the best thing I can do.