“So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell…but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” ~ James 3:5-6, 8-10 ESV
The tongue is a fire!
If we desire to be more intimate with the Lord and surrender our hearts to him, then we have to surrender everything to Him. This includes our tongue and our words. I don’t usually think about surrendering my words and tongue to God. But it’s so important!
“Three things come not back. The spent (shot) arrow, the spoken word and the lost opportunity.”
As soon as our (my) words are out there we (I) can’t get them back again.
There is an old Puritan story of a woman who went to her pastor and he confessed that she was guilty of slander and gossip. She told the pastor that she wanted to turn from all that and be done with it, and she wanted the pastor to help in doing so. So he said to her to take chicken feathers and lay them on the doorstep of all the houses in the community.
In which she had done that she was to come back and ask him what else she needed to do. He told her to go back the next morning and gather up all the feathers and bring them back to him. She explained to him that she could not do that because the wind had blown the feathers everywhere. The pastor said exactly you might be able to turn from their sin and be forgiven but the wind has blown your words everywhere.
In which she had done that she was to come back and ask him what else she needed to do. He told her to go back the next morning and gather up all the feathers and bring them back to him. She explained to him that she could not do that because the wind had blown the feathers everywhere. The pastor said exactly you might be able to turn from their sin and be forgiven but the wind has blown your words everywhere.
I’m asking the Lord to give me a heart that desires to speak words that will ultimately glorify Him and to do good and not do harm. Have my heart Lord and my tongue.
Guest Post by Kris Allison
~ Inspired by an Alistair Bigg sermon where Kris was challenged to think biblically about the power of the tongue.