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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________ Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post: https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_Podcast_Episode_1_Series_2020_Is_Your_Tongue_Ruining_Your_Life.mp3   You may be thinking, "What a strange question? How could my tongue be ruining my life?" You may be quite surprised when you find out. So, let me start off by asking you another question: Are there problems in your life that you can't seem to overcome? Like health problems? Marriage problems? Parenting problems? Addiction problems? Job problems?  The list can go on and on. But if there are problems you can't seem to overcome, the real problem may be your tongue. Have I captured your attention yet? I hope so, because in the rest of this podcast, we are going to explore the role of the tongue in creating success or failure in life, blessing or cursing. Just to clarify upfront, by the word "tongue" I mean the words we speak.  Did you know that the words we speak affect our life, for better or worse? In the Book of Proverbs 18: 21, the Bible makes a very strong statement when it says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Let that sink in for a moment.  What does this verse tell us? First of all, it tells us that the tongue has power. Second, it tells us that that power is the power of death and life.  In other words, your tongue has the power to generate death or to generate life. Quite a sobering truth, wouldn't you agree? If you're like me, just thinking about that verse makes me cringe. When I think of all of the negative words I've spoken throughout my life—unkind words, angry words, impatient words, impertinent words, hasty words, hurtful words, foolish words—I want to dig a hole and throw myself in it. In James 3: 6, the Bible calls the tongue "a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body." James further explains that the tongue "corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." Wow! Those are pretty strong words! So, what are we to do with this unruly member of the body? Well, truth be told, there is nothing we can do in our own strength. Why? Because the BIble tells us it's impossible to tame the tongue. I've tried taming my tongue in my own strength, and I've failed every single time. That strategy just doesn't work. Why not? Because the root of the problem is not the tongue; it is the human heart. You see, the Bible explains that what the tongue speaks comes out of the heart. In fact, the tongue can speak only what is in the heart. Matthew 12: 34 says this: "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."  The NIV version states it like this: "...the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." What is your heart full of? Is it full of hate, bitterness, envy, anger, revenge? If so, that is what you will speak.  No matter how much you try not to, you will eventually speak what is in your heart. But even more serious is that what you speak will affect your future life. If you speak failure, you will create failure. If you speak success, you will create success. If you speak curses on yourself, you will create a cursed life. If you speak blessings on yourself, you will create a blessed life. Let me give you an example.  A woman went to her doctor complaining of a chronic pain in her neck. The doctor ordered all kinds of tests, but every test returned negative. He could find nothing physically wrong with her neck. But the doctor was a very observant man.