Sunday School lesson: 4 Tips To Tame The Tongue

Can we tame our tongues?

Is it even necessary?

I must have learnt to speak even before learning to breathe, and I have not stopped speaking since. So teaching this week’s Sunday School Lesson: 4 Tips To Tame The Tongue hits close to home! It also provided one of those moments when you look towards heaven with a smile and whisper, “nicely played, God”.

Introduction to the lesson: Words can hurt more than knives.

I started the lesson by asking each child to tell us about a physical injury they had suffered. We then went around the class one more time to remember the meanest comment anyone had ever told us. I then asked the children if the hurt from the mean comment was any less than the pain from the injury. They admitted words can hurt just as much, if not more, than injuries. And so, I explained to them that, in my experience anyway, we can recover faster from “sticks and stones” than “words”. And this leads us to the week’s verse:

“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” James 1:26

Wow!

This is always a powerful wake-up call and a glorious reminder of how controlling our tongues is not an option, it is a necessity. Following are 4 tips to tame the tongue. But first, I highly recommend watching this video as it beautifully illustrates the message.

I ended the lesson by giving these practical reminders to help us tame our tongues.

4 Tips To Tame The Tongue:

1- Reflect on this: we use the same tongue to praise the Lord and partake of communion
2- Say only kind words to others
3- Ask yourself: is what I am about to say: kind? True? Necessary?
4- Pray to our Lord to help us tame our tongues.