"Thatsa Lotta Bull"

The minute they start talkin’,

You want ‘em to shut up,

‘Cause the “bull” flows freely,

Roll up your jeans a cuff.

Instead of giving presents,

At Christmas time you see,

They’ll be handing out opinions,

To everyone for free.

It’s not just what they’re sayin’,

‘Cause some of it is true,

It’s the prideful way they say it,

That’s just too much for you.

It might be at the deer camp,

Or at a football game,

Could be at the stockyard,

You hear them call your name.

And it’s too late to escape ‘em,

So you listen to the “bull,”

And for sure it happens,

Till you have a big ear full.

To speak and talk less freely,

Is an art that we should learn,

Because the Bible says it,

The tongue’s a fire that burns.

And all of us have felt it,

Enough to know we should,

Rein in our conversation,

If only that we would.

And if we will control it,

With the Good Lord’s grace,

We would do much better,

When running out life’s race.

O Lord, we pray Your Spirit,

Will help us rein it in,

Not be full of all that “bull,”

Let Your restraint begin.

“Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” (James 3:2, NLT)

This is a bold statement. Control the tongue and you can control all your behavior. If not, well…So what is this all about? The scriptures tell us our mouth speaks from the overflow of our hearts. If our hearts are right with God, our language will habitually express praise to the Lord, and conversation seasoned by grace. The tongue is controlled when the Spirit is in control of our hearts. And the tongue guides our attention and intention to live for God. We live out a verbal faith, expressing with words and action our love for the Lord. When the tongue is under His control, it shows that everything else in our lives is under His control, too.

Lord, we surrender our lives and our tongues to You, in Jesus’ name.

Our longhorn bull, Jason Kidd.