Praying Mantises and Honeycombs

It was a horrifying sight, to be sure. The frightening creature stared at me through my window screen with its beady black eyes. I shuddered and quickly closed the window, not wanting to be anywhere nearby if and when it decided to spit its poison.

Okay, so I'm a little dramatic. The horrifying creature was nothing more than a praying mantis. But those things just really creep me out. And yes, I realize that they do not spit poison, but when I was little another kid in the neighborhood told me that they did, and I've been afraid of them ever since.

Silly? Yes. Irrational? To be sure. But it still sticks in my mind, so therefore I do not like praying mantises. My family teases me about it and thinks I'm a little off-kilter, but such is life.

So, now a really disturbing thought has occurred to me. I am afraid of praying mantises spitting poison, even though they do not. But who should be afraid of me, for the poison that so easily can spew from my tongue?

Ouch...think about that one for a minute. And ponder this as well, from James 3:5-7. "The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

I don't want people to feel the urge to back away when they see me coming. I don't want to see my children shrink away from angry or critical words spewing from my mouth like venom. I don't want my husband to dread hearing my complaints or whining, or friends to fear being the target of gossip or a judgemental attitude.

Rather than words that poison relationships and tear others down, I want to speak life-giving words of affirmation and encouragement, words that give hope and allow love to be heard above all else.

Those are the kinds of words that can only be spoken by someone living a life that is filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:34 tells us "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." And from Proverbs 16:23-24: "A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

To live this kind of life and speak these kinds of words takes time on my knees with hands folded in prayer, the posture of a praying mantis without the "poison."