Foot in mouth disease

Reading:
Proverbs 18:21
Proverbs 12:18
James 3:5-6

Thought:
There are times in life when we do or say something we wished we could take back. This is called putting your foot in your mouth and it happens when we react to situations instead of respond in a loving way.

In 5th grade I played Basketball and my dad was the coach. He was the most encouraging coach any athlete could ever ask for. He never let it get to him when a bad call was made and he never lost his cool. One evening we had one of the toughest games I remember playing. The other team cheated every way they could. They called us bad names and even threw elbows when the ref was not looking. It was a tough game but to this day I and I can’t remember if we won or lost.
Here is why…

After the game was over, we were marching through the “Good Game line”, slapping hands of the other team and muttering “Good game- good game- good game.” to each passing player. When I came to the two who had been throwing elbows and cursing at us in the game I muttered “Good game” and held out my hand to slap theirs when they cursed at me again and gave me a shove. This was the last straw and I let them have it. Not with my fists but with screaming insults and words that would normally get my mouth washed with soap. Where they had shoved me where no one else could see it and cussed at me where only my ears heard it, the whole gymnasium heard the colorful language that I was coming out of my mouth.

My dad grabbed me up and carried me outside and I will never forget what he said to me.
“Son, they were wrong to cuss at you and throw elbows on the court. They cheated this whole game and were the bad guys until you just opened your mouth. Now, you look like the bad guy. All that they did to you guys tonight doesn’t matter now all anyone will remember is how you just cussed then out. By opening your mouth you made yourself look like the bad guy and now everyone feels sorry for them.” Open mouth, insert foot… Foot in mouth disease is one that we all seem to contract from time to time. This happens when we react, forgetting to bless others and put our own feelings ahead of theirs. We need to train ourselves to respond in a loving way not only to bless others but also to save face.

Exercise:
Think of a time when someone upset you and how you reacted.
Question:
Could you have responded in a different way and saved face?
Plan ahead:
The next time you are faced with a similar situation, how will you react?
What words will you use?
Will you choose to bless them or not?
Remember: “A negative response will always get a negative response
But… little bit of kindness goes a long way!
Pray: Ask God for the wisdom to respond to situations that upset you and take a moment to pray for those people who always seem to upset you.