A Follower's Thought

I was sitting here this morning thinking about what I could write down to encourage people today. I was reading over an old devotion that I shared a few years ago with our staff. It came from James 3:1-12. It says, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistake in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships, though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is set on fire by hell. Every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue. A restless evil full of deadly poison. With it, we bless the Lord and Father, and with it, we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine yield figs? No more can salt water yield fresh."

Wow! That was a mouthful! A wise person once said, as you go through life, you are going to have many opportunities to keep your mouth shut. Take advantage of all of them. You know, it would be nice in our walk with Jesus, if that walk came with a total makeover of the mouth. I believe that makeover is possible, but it can be a huge battle for us as Christians. You see, we are in a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit. The tongue is one of those major battles. I believe that the hurtful and unkindly comments that we sometimes can say is really a heart problem. Our tongue and mouth is just a vent from our heart. If I can change my heart first, my tongue will respond with kinder words to build up someone, not tear them down. How can I change my heart? By renewing my mind in Christ, Jesus daily. How do I do that? By reading God's word every single day. By praying to God to guide me every single day. And lastly, by fearing God. You see, we are all going to be held accountable by God for what we say. In Mathew 12:36-37, Jesus said, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned." Those words right there, motivate me to try and bridle my tongue each day. Does that always work? No, but I wake up each day reading God's word and praying to him to help me fight my flesh. I'm not perfect. None of us are. We must rise each day, knowing through faith that the blood of Christ washes our imperfections away. I want to close by saying these words that I read somewhere in a book. It goes like this. "On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. The stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look closely. The faint etchings read: 'Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, lies Arabella Young, Who on the twenty-fourth of May, began to hold her tongue.' That is all that will happen to us someday when we die. It will just be a lump of clay. And on that day, we will hold our tongue."

Let's hope that we learn what that woman never did, to tame our tongue.

God Bless.

Correll Pritchard