Daily Devotions
How Our Tongues Control Us
Reading for October 15th: Mark 1-3
Weekly reading for October 11-17: James 1-5
And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
James 3:2
James goes on to say that a very small bit is able to control a large horse, and that a small rudder is able to turn a huge ship. The point is is that our tongue, one of our smallest members, is able to control our body.
We see examples of this all the time. How do brawls in sports get started? What causes coldness and indifference in relationships? How are marriages often destroyed? Why do parents and children become hostile? It's often the tongue that creates these problems. Negative actions flow out of negative words. Our bodies follow our tongues.
This principle can work for us in a positive way. If we speak lovingly and respectfully to one another (in sports, at work, in relationships, etc.), then treating people in a loving and respectful way becomes so much easier.
Try this out and see if it is not so. Think of your biggest enemy and force yourself to speak of them only in Christ-like ways. Eliminate all negative speech and resolve to say only nice things about them. Speak only those things that will build up, and see if your general attitude and behavior toward them does not change.
Father, discipline our tongues to speak respectfully and lovingly toward others.
