Have You Ever.......?

Have you ever had to eat humble pie? You know the kind of pie - that tastes like - I flew off the handle before I learned the facts... and when the facts were discovered I learned I was wrong -really really wrong.... The kind of pie that you just don't want to eat.... It has a very bitter taste..... but you know you got to eat the entire tin..... because you need to do some humblin

Have you ever gotten angry at someone and realized you were wrong.... but your pride would hold you back from saying you are sorry.... so instead of saying you're sorry - you just stay mad... You find something else to be mad about - whether it is valid or not.....

Have you ever lost a friend or loved one because you said things that were better left unsaid.... whether they were true or not? Whether you were right or wrong....? Your pride and "I have to be right and have the last word" took over you mouth.... Did you gain anything? Did you lose something?

Have you ever been too busy pointing your finger at someones faults and never bothering to look in the mirror and see your own? Do you have higher expectations of others than you do for yourself...?

Have you ever wished that you could take back every wrong word you have said - every mean comment made? Every "I'm proving I'm right" attitude? Do you wish you could just hug all the previous words said in anger - said in haste - said in indifference out of the person you offended..

Have you ever wished that the ones you love just knew that you loved them.. regardless of the words and actions you have said and done against them..? Do you ever - skip the "I'm sorry" and pretend nothing happened???

I think everyone has done a "Have you ever?" and it is so hard to eat that humble pie.. It's sometimes so hard to say "I'm sorry" because it makes you vulnerable... it opens the door for them to lash back at you..... It shows that you can be wrong - when we always want to be right.

I have spent a lot more time with my girls this summer - staying home for the summer - has given me more opportunity to watch my almost teenagers interact.. It is sad to me how they tear each other down and say words that are hateful... words that cannot be taken back... Last night Dusty, my husband had the girls read out of the book of James chapter 3 last night and explain what it meant to them. And the depth of their answers and thought process amazed me. They together decided that they must stop being mean and hateful to each other... They even came up with a punishment - we all agreed was fair... and today - they each received a composition book - this book is for them to say the things that they want to say that may be negative - they put it in the book instead of on their lips.. This book is their eyes only... This book is for them to see themselves better - their sister better - their parents better - and God's mercy better.....

James 3

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.