My Bible Study leader looked at us. “Ok, so we’re going to share prayer requests and praises. Cheryl?”
I began, “Hmm… Well, last week I had a mastectomy….”
Everybody gasped.
I gasped.
Heat rushed to my face.
“Ah – you meant to say ‘mammogram,’ right?” The leader glanced at my chest.
“Yes, mammogram!” I said, whacking myself on the head. “Well, they both start with m.” I snorted, then everybody lost it.
Only Two Kinds of Mistakes
The incident reminded me how there are really only two kinds of slips or mistakes: Mistakes of human denseness (innocent blips like my mammogram slip-of-the-tongue), and mistakes of spiritual deafness (otherwise known as ~ gulp ~ sin).
I’ve committed my share of both.
There are more than a few things I wish I didn’t remember. Like my first time playing softball in Phy Ed. when I finally hit the ball (or should I say, when the ball finally hit my bat). Rather than running straight to first base, I jetted out and ran a fair distance out of the way. I made a rounded arch ~ out into right field (or should I say left field?), before I finally, breathlessly made it to first base. After the ball, of course.
That was a dense mistake.
Oh, it brought laughter.
But it wasn’t sin (though my teammates might have acted otherwise).
Sin hurts on a whole different level.
It hurts God because it hurts us and others. But ~ it’s one hundred percent forgivable.
[box] “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9[/box]
Because of this, we can laugh. Freely.
Jesus paid the price for our sin. He cuts us off from the death of it. He gives us a sin-ectomy. Makes us free indeed!
So we search our hearts. We guard them. We squeeze them against the truth of God’s Word. We give ourselves a heartogram. We make sure there are no spots or hidden sins. And if there are, the procedure is painless because Jesus already took the pain. We confess and turn from sin. We believe and receive. We draw near to God and celebrate newness of heart.
With our big, fat, powerful, tongues, we shout:
Thank you, Jesus!
Care to join me in publicly thanking Him? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheryl,
Thanks for reminding us to use out tongues wisely. To say nothing is sometimes the best thing of all. Bringing our tongues under submission to God’s authority is a tall order, but our God is bigger and stronger than any sin that would have us do anything wrong over and over. He gives us strength by forgiving and reminding us next time to say things differently or to just be still.
As for using the wrong word, you’re not the only one. My brain gets scrambled searching for the right noun to describe an object. I have a memory that lasts about 3 seconds sometimes going into my house to do something and forgeting what it was, or losing things in the house and finding them days later–never remembering I put them there in the first place. Maybe these are early signs of dementia? Uh-oh.
Linda
I wonder if Jesus ever got tongue-tied. I’ll have to ask Him in heaven…
I love how God uses everything for good. Even our mess-ups.
We can pray God keeps our minds healthy. He is able.
He is greater. And He is the focus ~ no matter what. He is everything.
Linda, thanks for stopping by!
About the Parent Voice FB page, Holland Bloorview expressed suprrise that no parents commented on the researcher’s piece about rethinking ‘normal’ in children’s rehab. There are many possible reasons. Let’s keep in mind that parents are often busy, stressed, or not aware of the posting. Plus there seems to be so much discussion online and in books about this topic that maybe some parents would rather discuss something else.