LOSING YOUR HEAD...LITERALLY

It sounds unbelievable, but if a cockroach loses its head, it can continue living for up to a week. This creature possesses a unique circulatory system, which typically seals itself off quickly through clotting. This enables the cockroach to exist without a head. During this period, the headless body can still move, react to touch, and even stand, but eventually the insect starves to death. (biologyinsights.com).

We’ve all encountered individuals who spend their days like a headless cockroach—existing, but failing to experience real life. Benjamin Franklin said, “Some people die at twenty-five, and aren’t buried until seventy-five.”

But in another sense, every one of us behaves like a headless cockroach. We speak without thinking. Angry words, gossip, sarcasm, or simply blurting out rude comments, are ways we employ our tongues before engaging our brains. I’ve practiced this headless-cockroach behavior more often than I care to admit, and I suspect I’m not the only one. It’s part of the human condition of which God warns us so often in scripture. Consider these tidbits from Proverbs:

• A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly (12:23)

• A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions (18:2).

• A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating (18:6)

• He who answers before listening — that is his folly and his shame (18:13).

• Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him (29:20).

How many relationships have been broken; reputations ruined; and careers destroyed, because someone temporarily lost their head, and allowed their tongue to spew thoughtless words? The solution is simple…but not easy. Think before speaking. Surrender our tongues to the Lord’s control. Replace our thoughtless words with the fruit of the Spirit (kindness, goodness, etc.) And stop reacting like a headless cockroach.

Ponder:

• In what situations or relationships are you most likely to speak without thinking?

• Does someone come to mind whom you have wronged in this area? How can you make it right with them?

Pursue: For a deeper dive, study James 3.

Lord God, forgive me for those times when I act like a headless cockroach, speaking without thinking. Please turn my mind to you when I’m tempted to blurt out foolish words.