Me and my big mouth...

Judges 11:29-35 Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” Sometimes we look at biblical characters and think to ourselves: "What an idiot. Here was Jephthah, called by God, having the Spirit upon him, guaranteeing victory in what He had called him to do, and he makes this rash vow." Then we look in the mirror and rewind the recorder of our own lives and hear the things we have said that come back to haunt us - promises we have made, and the famous "I would never...", as well as other rash vows and proclamations. What harm and hurt we cause, needlessly, to ourselves and those we love, when we fail to control the tongue. Set a guard over my mouth today, Lord.