I don't know about you, but sometimes the completely wrong things roll right off my tongue. Can you relate?
Lip slips sneak up on us. We're human. It happens. But words are powerful. They can build up, tear down, affirm, teach, criticize and condemn. So how do we train our mouths to speak in love and grace?
Have you ever considered a mouth makeover?
Meet my author friend, Sharla Fritz. HI SHARLA!! You'll never meet a sweeter person. She wrote and just released her brand new Bible study, Bless These Lips: 40 Days of Spiritual Renewal, through Concordia Publishing House. Talk about a GREAT tool for a mouth makeover!
 |
| Author, Sharla Fritz |
She's provided an AWESOME gift basket to launch her new study, but we'll get to that in a minute. First, I asked Sharla some questions (fun!) so you can get to know and love her like I do.
What was your most embarrassing lip slip?
Lip slip? Moi? I was at a family reunion and my husband and cousin were discussing cars. I came into the conversation halfway through and should've kept my mouth shut since I know nothing about cars. They mentioned a certain Audi model (that I had ridden in a couple of months ago), so I contributed to the conversation by saying, "Oh, I really don't like that model at all. The interior seemed so cramped." My husband then informed me that was exactly the model my cousin owned!
Why is it so important to tame our tongue?
We all know that despite the old adage, words really can hurt us more than sticks and stones. Careless words may cause soul scars that take a lot longer to heal than broken bones. Our words have incredible power. We can encourage our husband to conquer the world, cheer on our children to try something new, and inspire friends to follow their dreams.
But the main reason to tame our tongue? God wants us to! I searched every passage in Scripture about our speech and there's a LOT of them. Proverbs alone contains 108 verses dealing with our lips, tongues, mouths, and words. It's important!
Why did you believe it was important to write this Bible study?
Because I needed a mouth makeover! And as I talked with other women, they admitted they struggled in that area also. So I studied the topic and wrote what I learned.
What's the biggest benefit to readers?
I hope they take away the truth that God forgives. I tend to beat myself up over stupid things I've said, but God reminds me that His grace covers all my mistakes. Also, God has placed each of us in a unique time and place to minister His love and grace to the people He's put around us right now. We can have an impact on our world through our words.
What talent or quirky habit do you have that most people don't know?
I can wiggle my ears. I learned how to do it from Kris Seehafer in 8th grade, but somehow I don't get many calls to use that talent.
Thanks, Sharla! Isn't she awesome? Bless These Lips is an 8-week study, each week has five days of readings and Bible study questions. It can be used for individual study, but would be even more fun to do with a group of gabby girlfriends!
Now for the prize giveaway, which includes:- a signed copy of Bless These Lips
- a pretty cosmetic bag with lip balm, lip liner, and lipstick
- a handmade bookmark
- $15 Amazon gift card
- a framed print of a quote from the book: “God has given you a unique mission to speak His words of love and grace to a lost and discouraged world.”
To enter your name in the drawing to win this great goody basket:
- Leave a comment below telling us your most embarrassing lip slip (try to keep it short!)
- Share this post on Facebook and/or Twitter (and let us know you did!)
- Sign up to receive Sharla's awesome blog posts here.
To connect with Sharla and Bless These Lips:
- Sharla's Website and Blog - http://www.sharlafritz.com/
- To order Bless These Lips: http://www.cph.org/p-20652-bless-these-lips.aspx
So...what's your most embarrassing lip slip?
.
Most of my lip slips come from not clearly hearing what people say. My daughter and I were waiting for a bus and a trolley car came down the road. She mentioned seeing the trolley. I responded, What's a twilley? We had a good laugh over it
ReplyDeleteHi Teresa, it certainly can help to not take ourselves too seriously and to have a laugh over some of our lip slips!
DeleteMost of my lips slips come from thinking to far ahead in the conversation. Instead of listening to the person I am already a head of what they are saying trying to fix the problem since I am a fixer.
ReplyDeleteAwesome giveaway, I would be honored to be entered.
M. Waters
I have the same problem of trying to think of what I'm going to say next instead of truly listening to the other person! Thanks for bringing up that common conversation malady. Attentive listening is a precious gift we can give others.
DeleteHi Donna,
ReplyDeleteGreat post on the Bless These Lips blog tour. Thank you!
I have problems when I think I have to have an answer right at that moment, instead of saying that I will get back to you on that, and praying about it. This always gets me in a mess and later I think, I shouldn't have said that, I should have said this instead. There is nothing wrong with saying "Let me pray about that and I will tell you later".
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Lori, that sometimes it is much better to wait to give an answer. You are so wise! "Let me pray about that" should become one of the first things we say!
DeleteWould LOVE to win this gift basket!! I tweeted this giveaway. My twitter account is twitter.com/icalledonjesus. I also signed up for your blog posts. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI would love to win and share this study! My lip slips have been epic - But one I can think of is the time I walked into an interview after spilling coffee on my pants and then announced it, so no one would think I wet myself. I guess there was no good way to get around that...anyway. Thanks for the chance. Dawn
ReplyDeleteLOL Dawn! I'm sure we've all had times like that. I especially have a problem with spilling things on myself. But I am working on not spilling out harmful words!
DeleteThis sounds like a delightful devotional. I've had so many lip slips, I'm not sure where to begin. One that still causes my face to flush is while talking with a new friend, I mentioned meeting her when she was pregnant a number of years ago...only to learn she hadn't been pregnant.
ReplyDeleteOops! In the book, I also tell about a mouth mishap I had when I was talking to someone who I had heard was expecting a baby--but it was a false pregnancy. I felt so bad. I thank the Lord for His forgiveness and that most people also give us grace because we all mess up from time to time!
DeleteThanks so much to all who have stopped by so far!! Keep those comments coming. There's till time to enter the drawing!
ReplyDeleteMy worst lip slips are when I say something in the wrong place and people overhear a secret. I had when that happens.
ReplyDelete