Me and My Big Mouth

There is a scripture in the Bible that talks about using our mouths to praise the Lord and speak bad of Him at the same time. The two just don’t mix, they don’t go together, and they don’t belong together.



This is true also of how we talk to or about others as well. It’s not good that we use our mouth to ask our parents for all the things we want and then yell at them the next time for not getting it our way.


We need to use our mouths to praise the Lord and our parents as well. To honor them as God tells us to. We may not agree with what God or our parents are doing but we can always find things to be thankful for and praise them.


Things to be thankful for:
The home they furnish us to live in
The electricity that they pay for
The phone they have that you can use
Transportation to and from school and everywhere else
Tiredlessness nights of working extra hours to pay bills and feed their families
The shampoo in the bathroom, the food in the kitchen
The free smile they have for
The comfort they supply when needed
A needed hug to tell you you’re still love when you make mistakes
The advice they handout that often came to them thru hard lessons they are trying to keep you from going through
The treat they bless you with once in awhile no matter how big or small

Showing respect to others is an important characteristic we need to develop. We are without excuse. We can’t blame the kid down the street or the adult at the store for not having it so we don’t need it either. We need to be responsible for our own actions because when we stand before Jesus some day we are the only ones that will be required to answer for the idle, bad, hateful, rude, thoughtless words we once said or for even those we should have said.


We need to turn our big mouths into one that is full of encouraging words of admiration, esteem, admiration for our parents and God instead of the “give me, give me world” we try to live in.


God knows it’s not easy to control the tongue but He knows it is possible. Our tongue is connected to the things we store in our hearts. If we store selfishness, hatred, anger, resentment, and bitterness that is what is going to come out on our tongue.


Take control of your tongue now before it takes control over you. Life isn’t as bad as we make it out to be so stop dwelling on the negative and look for the good. Where would I be today if I continued to dwell on the hatred I had for the girl who caused my epilepsy. I’ll tell you where, I would still be having stress seizures and never would have been declared “not disabled” anymore. My cancer and the pain I feel every hour of the day gives me a target to dwell on the negative of “Why me?” but where does that get me? Only further in pain in my spirit as well as my body.

Stop! Think first. Speak second. Think about what you say before you say it and you’ll be amazed at the stuff you can cut out of your life giving you peace within and a happiness that can’t be bought with money or material things.


Make a list of the good things you have going for you in your life. Yes there are some if you would truly look. Read it frequently when Satan starts to lead you down the path of ungratefulness. Use your tongue to encourage others not as a weapon to hurt.






Good things in my life:
My cancer is in remission
I have a job
I have a family that cares, a husband that supports me thru all my life’s challenges
I love the color of the blue sky with the blanket of green grass underneath it
I can walk and talk on my own
I have free smiles to give away
I am rich not because of money but because of Jesus being in my life
My house isn’t a mansion or a million dollar estate but it keeps me warm and safe and it’s full of love
I have parents who have worked very hard to achieve what they have for me and the family
My daughter is a hardworking woman passing on to her children the blessings a mom has to offer
My grandkids are tucked away in my heart in a warm and caring spot that longs to see them know Jesus as I know Jesus


The list goes on because I keep adding to it, looking for things to put on it. That is what you need to be doing with your big mouth, listing the good and waiting patiently for the bad in your life to get better. Bad times are used to make us grow, to teach us what we need to learn, to get our attention so we will pay attention to our teacher, Jesus Christ. Instead of asking “why me?” use your mouth to ask “What can learn from this?”

Hard times are the classrooms where we learn the most. They are not a weapon to be used to beat someone over the head with wondering why they put us through what they did, or why didn’t they do this or that for us….why….why….why?


Nope, we need to change our why to what. Our out of control mouth to a controlled tongue. An ungrateful heart to a thankful heart. Do this and you’ll be way ahead of a lot of adults and you will find a peace in your spirit that is awesome and long-lasting.






They Call Me, Grandma

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~ Don't Blame Me, Blame My Mouth

As I sat in McDonald’s with two of my granddaughters, the youngest who was the last to finish looked up at me and said, “Grandma, don’t blame me blame my mouth.”

Coming from church where the sermon topic was about telling lies verses telling the truth her innocent little
statement about her food said a lot. Too often in our lives we like to blame anything but ourselves for our actions. Blame my mouth, don’t blame me is our way of thinking. God tells us it isn’t easy to tame the tongue but it’s possible.

I heard a lady in her 50’s once shout out that it was her “God-given right to say what she pleased.” Wrong, it is not our God-given right to say whatever we feel like saying. If you look in the Bible you will not find any place where God gives us that right. What we are told to do is control our tongue, to say only that which is beneficial to others, and to let our words and meditation of our heart be pleasing to God.

Just because we have ability to speak doesn’t give us the right to speak whatever we want. Turning 50, 60, 15, 10, or 5 doesn’t give us that right either. What comes with age should be maturity not the attitude that now that I’m older I can do whatever I want.

We need to take responsibility for our mouths. Like it or not its connected to our heart, it’s a part of us. Just like you would never get away with slapping another kid in school and say, “Don’t blame me blame my hand,” it doesn’t work with the mouth either.

They call me grandma

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #27 The Right Tongue

One day as my 7 year old granddaughter began to grumble it made me think about how for such a young thing her life didn’t seem to be so good at the time. Hoping to apply a little lesson on gratitude and having the right attitude or outlook on life I tried to help her assess what the problem may be.

“Perhaps your belly button is too tight,” I told her. Or perhaps her knees were on the wrong legs or her ears were loose or maybe it was because she had an extra rib. Upon checking out each spot I found that wasn’t the problem. She was extremely ticklish in those areas but everything appeared to be in place.

Perhaps it’s your tongue,” I questioned her. That’s it, when you were born they gave you the wrong tongue in the hospital. Your tongue must have been switched at birth.” The solution sounded like such a logical one as I asked her to stick out her tongue so we could see. Probably to her the logical solution was Grandma was a little on the goofy side as she read the note Grandma wrote to her dentist just before her appointment:

"Dear Mrs. Dentist, while you are fixing our granddaughter's teeth could you fix her tongue too. She got the wrong tongue when she was born. She needs the correct magnetic pull of positive speaking instead of negative talking. Thank you very much, signed Grandma. P.S. She’s a doll so please go easy on her.”

We’d like to blame our tongue for being all wrong, too loose, too tight, or too long. But the real issue is the magnetic pull of our heart. We are the ones who should be in control of our tongue instead of the other way around. It’s an instrument we are responsible for training just like we had to learn how to speak, whistle, walk, jump rope, or ride a bike.

The tongue can say things that are hurtful. It can say things that are helpful. Once again we are the ones responsible for its training. The place to start is in your heart. Often what’s in our hearts (bitterness, anger, rudeness, selfishness, love, joy, peace, forgiveness) shows up in our tongue in the things we say and how we say them.

Read what God has to say about how to handle your tongue and mouth. Practice the tips He gives you and take control instead of giving over control to your tongue:

Psalm 19:14 (NKJV) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Psalm 34:1 (NKJV) I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 39:1 (NKJV) I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me.”

Psalm 71:8 (NKJV) Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with Your glory all the day

Psalm 78:36 (NKJV) Nevertheless they flattered Him (God) with their mouth; and lied to Him (God) with their tongue.

Proverbs 21:23 (NKJV) says, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

Summary: You need to make the decision that the words of your mouth and the things you are thinking are going to be acceptable to God. Man’s approval of them doesn’t count. It’s what God approves of. Learn to bless the Lord at all times with your mouth. Too often we are quick to complain and slow on praise, we need to reverse that process.

Each person is responsible for guarding their own tongue. Even though someone else doesn’t do their part it doesn’t give you the right to join them. Know in your heart there are a lot of sins that can be committed with your tongue, the sin of bitterness, anger, revenge, rudeness, hatred, and so much more.

We hold the power to restrain. We are without excuse if we don’t. Flattering God with our mouths yet lying to Him with our tongues doesn’t work. He sees right through it. Bottom-line, if we guard our mouth and tongue we will keep our soul from trouble.

It’s not our tongue that is wrong. It’s our heart and our willingness to discipline our tongue where discipline is needed. Look to the good, dwell on the positive, praise the Lord, and be thankful at all times and you’ll have the right tongue installed.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

WTLB~~NEW---God is driving, all we need to do is get on the bus and cooperate

July 22, 2008

To be perfectly honest and upfront over the issue, there is nothing worse than a backseat driver. A backseat driver can be anyone in the car other than the driver who thinks they know what they are doing. They are constantly handing out unneeded advice to the one who is driving as if it was necessary. They often cause more harm than good as they distract the one behind the wheel.

Spiritually we do that with God as we take on the role of the backseat driver constantly offering up to God advice on how to drive as if it was necessary. Because of this we wind up causing more harm than good. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to willingly accept that God is doing the driving. He’s the one that’s in control. No advice from us is required or essential as we put away our “How to drive in 10 easy lessons” advice we are so easily tempted to hand out.

Kind of like what they call a mass-transit system in the big cities all we need to do is get on board and cooperate with the One who is in charge, Jesus Christ. The man with the map, the one with the knowledge to get us where we need to be in the best way possible, the one who should be in control behind the steering wheel of our lives.

Starting young to learn how to sit back and relax and let God drive is a vital lesson for anyone. It’s a lesson worth taking, a principal worth learning as we apply it daily to the lives we lead. In other words allow God to be the GPS navigating system in your life. Watch out for false systems that promise to get you where you need to be. Go with the one true way, Jesus Christ. The Bible He wrote as our map is not an outdated resource but an updated one that has the path to a future yet to come, eternity with Him.

Copyright 2008 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing