Taming the Tongue

It’s been estimated that the average human being utters between 10,000 and 20,000 words per day. Consider that fact in light of Solomon’s words in Proverbs 10:19: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent,” and you have 10,000 to 20,000 opportunities to sin. We are fallen people, and we utter fallen words. But we serve a communicating God. In ‘Taming the Tongue: How the Gospel Transforms Our Talk,’ Jeff Robinson reminds us how in the gospel the Lord gives us a remedy for our troubled talk.

Endorsements

“Jeff Robinson points us to what it means to be like Jesus, and Christ-likeness is revealed by the way we talk. Robinson’s book is steeped in Scripture, full of illuminating examples, and both deeply convicting and also wonderfully encouraging. I am grateful for such a practical and pastoral work and hope that it is read widely.”
—Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation and Biblical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“This book hit home with me, perhaps because some of my greatest regrets have come from ways I’ve misused words—confidences I didn’t keep, criticism I was too eager to offer, bragging to make myself seem important, dominating the conversation when I should have listened. I’ve also misused words by keeping silent when I should have come clean, when I should have offered praise, when I should have spoken up. These and many more insights on how we use our words are covered in this brief but wisdom-filled book—a great book to read prayerfully on your own, but even better to use to discuss with a small group.”
—Nancy Guthrie, author and Bible teacher

“Whenever I pick up a book on words or taming the tongue, I brace myself for conviction. It’s a struggle I’ve long known exists for me, and one I fight daily. But it’s also one that I find comes back so readily, with new manifestations of its hold in my life. Jeff Robinson has written a book that not only brought the chisel of conviction, but also the hope for transformation. I was convicted of new ways I use my words for evil, but was also reminded of the power of Christ’s grace to keep working in me. If you need help taming the tongue (don’t we all to some degree?), then this book is for you. I highly recommend it.”
—Courtney Reissig, author, Teach Me to Feel and Glory in the Ordinary