Those who control their tongue will have a long life; a quick report can ruin everything.
The Bible warns us in many places to control our tongue and what we say. The tongue is a very small organ but it is extremely powerful. It can build or destroy other people or even ourselves. Proverbs 11:9 (NLT) says, “evil words destroy one’s friends; wise discernment rescues the godly.” It is wise to control our tongue. It is foolish not to. We may have experienced situations where we were wise and kept silent about an issue, then found out we were wrong in our thinking and would have made a mistake by speaking too soon. Other times, we may have spoken too soon and ruined relationships, only to find out later we were wrong or had wrong information. It is hard to repair relationships once they have been broken by evil, hurtful words.
Let’s hang on to the promise of having long life by learning to control our tongue. One way we can achieve that is by learning to control our temper. Usually these two go hand-in-hand. People with a quick, uncontrolled temper are the ones who are quick to judge and speak out hurtful words.
If this is a weak area in your life, ask God to help you gain control of your temper and your tongue. Ask Him to help you find opportunities to use your tongue to build people up instead of to destroy them. I can assure you He will give you those opportunities right away—your workplace may be the first. Beware, however, of the enemy’s ways. The moment he knows you want to turn around and make a change for the good, he will send you opportunities to fail—the workplace again is the perfect place to fail in this area. But don’t be discouraged because once you ask God to help you, He will give you the wisdom to discern situations and the strength to do the right thing to control your mouth.
Excerpt permission granted by Marcia Malzahn.
Marcia Malzahn (Marci) was born in Nicaragua, Central America. In 1979 she left Nicaragua due to a revolution and moved to the Dominican Republic and lived there for seven years. Marcia moved to Minnesota in 1986 and started a career in banking with Marquette Banks that continued for the next thirteen years in the areas of Cash Management, Private Banking, and Retail Banking. In 1995 Marcia became the first Online Banking Specialist in the Twin Cities.
In 1999, she moved to the IT field and started working for Living Word Christian Center (LWCC), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. At LWCC, she held the positions of Y2K Project Manager, Director of IT, Associate in charge of Finance, Human Resources and IT, and was Corporate Assistant Secretary of the Board. She managed a budget of $31.5MM and 28 employees.
In January 2005, Marcia moved back to the banking field and helped start a new bank in Edina, MN, Tradition Capital Bank, now at over $400 million in assets. From 2005 to 2013, Marcia was the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of the bank. In January, 2014, Marcia’s role changed to EVP/COO and was promoted to Chief Risk Officer. Marcia was also the Corporate Secretary of the bank’s Board and of the holding company’s Board.
In October 2014, Marcia started her own bank consulting firm, Malzahn Strategic, focusing on Strategic Planning, Enterprise Risk Management, and Talent Management for community banks. Marcia is also a public speaker and speaks on motivational/inspirational/leadership topics as well as banking topics such as Enterprise Risk Management. She holds an Associates of Arts degree from North Hennepin Community College and graduated with a B.A. in Business Management from Bethel University. Marcia also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI.
Marcia is involved in the community. She was a member of Financial Women International for sixteen years and held several board positions including president of the local group and of the District. She is a member of the Minnesota Women Economic Roundtable and served as treasurer for two years. Marcia is also chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. Marcia has also volunteered in other organizations including Matter, Pulse Movement, Opportunity International, Way to Grow, Feed My Starving Children, HopeKids, Meals on Wheels, and Farmers Market Youth Project.
Marcia was the recipient of many awards including:
• 25 On The Rise award given by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in December, 2005.
• Forty Under 40 award given by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in May, 2006
• Virginia D. H. Furman Outstanding Woman of the Year award from Financial Women International in September, 2006
• Top Women in Finance award from Finance and Commerce Newspaper in November, 2008
• Outstanding Women in Banking award given by the North Western Financial Review magazine in November, 2009
Marcia is the author of her book Devotions for Working Women – A Daily Inspiration to Live a Successful and Balanced Life published in 2006. Marcia published her second book The Fire Within – Connect Your Gifts with Your Calling in October 2015. Marcia and her husband Tim live in Minnesota and have two children: Nicole and Patrick. Marcia enjoys spending time with her family, working out, singing, writing, and public speaking.