Humility is a hard lesson to learn and an easy lesson to forget.
Dad told me today that Grandma Spicer had a plaque in her kitchen with a picture of a fish saying, "If only I had kept my mouth shut."
How many times in my life did I get caught like that fish in my own sin, through opening my mouth when I should have kept it shut.
James 3:6 tells us that the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity which defiles the body and sets on fire the entire course of our life.
Think about a match in the haymow. Speaking is playing with matches. I should know, because I've spoken hastily and kindled many fires in my life. Those burnt down barns don't get rebuilt by the remorse you feel after realizing what you said.
Well, I did it again.
I really did try not to say anything, but I was pressured into saying what was wrong, and once that match was struck there was no going back. I said things that were merely frustrations I hadn't worked through yet, things that were completely irrelevant, and things that I just should have kept to myself.
I repented. I apologized. The incident was completely blown out of proportion and embellished upon. I know God forgave me. Hallelujah for the blood of Jesus!
I'm not welcome back unless I participate in a reconciliation curriculum, submit to leadership, and embrace the mission and vision. I get the impression they would rather just be rid of me.
I was just complaining. I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I didn't intend to disrespect anyone. I was frustrated. I was working through it. I would have been fine. But I was forced to talk about it.
It's another in a long series of lessons on the same subject. Someday, maybe, I will learn the material. You'll probably know because I stop speaking completely.
