Taming The Untamable Series

YEAH - Jesus explained the Freudian slip years before Freud even existed. He said what's inside of you is what's going to come out.

THAT IS WHY - if we've got a problem with our tongue, it's much more serious that we think.

We have a heart problem.

A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart.

A person with a negative tongue has a fearful heart.

A person with an overactive tongue has an unsettled heart.

A person with a boasting tongue has an insecure heart.

A person with a filthy tongue has an impure heart.

A person who is critical all the time has a bitter heart.

On the other hand,

a person who is always encouraging has a happy heart.

A person who speaks gently has a loving heart.

A person who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

IV Our Tongues Can Bring and Give Life

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. – Proverbs 18:21

I love the story that Barbara Gland tells, about the time she did some training with three thousand front-line workers at grocery stores and retail outlets across the country.

She talked about the power of words and how what you say really does make a difference in people’s lives.

A month later, Barbara said she got a call from a guy named Johnny, who was at the training. Johnny told her early on, “I’m nineteen years old. I have Downs Syndrome. I work as a bagger at a grocery store.” He said this almost immediately.

He said, “I went back to the store and I didn’t know how to apply your statements. I liked your talk but I didn’t know what to do with it. I went home and talked with my dad and got an idea. My dad and I sat down at the computer and everyday we come up with a statement that is affirming of people, that’s encouraging.

If I can’t find one in a little quote book, I’ll make it up. We’ll type it up six different times on the computer. I print off fifty sheets and cut all of them.” So he has three hundred of these quotes. Then, every night, Johnny signs each one of them personally. Then the next day at the grocery store he puts this stack right by where he bags the groceries.

He gets everyone’s groceries bagged up. Then on the last sack he puts the quote of the day, the encouraging word, in the sack. He makes sure he looks them in the eye and says,

“I put something very special for you in this sack. I hope it will brighten your day.”

Johnny does this every single day. Barbara said after about a month she got a phone call from the manager of that grocery store.

He said, “Barbara I can’t believe it. Something really amazing is beginning to happen. I was walking around the store and I noticed while we had lots of checkers at the checkout line, there was no one there but maybe one or two people. The line where Johnny was doing bagging went all the way back to the frozen food section.”

True story!

He said, “I would tell them over the intercom that there were other lines you could move over to. We would walk down the line and tell people there were other lines open. People would just look at us and say, ‘No, we’ll wait because we want Johnny’s encouraging word for the day.’