"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." James 3:6-8
As I cautiously neared the intersection on my morning run, a speeding car approached. The driver, attempting to turn right quickly, only looked to her left before proceeding to pull out oblivious to the stop sign in front of her and anything else in her path. At the top of my lungs I yelled. "Lady stop! Stop!" By God's grace, this caught her attention in time to avoid hitting me. With my adrenaline now on high, that word came out.. that S word that always seems to pop up when I get scared or surprised. Unfortunately that word was not super either. As I calmed down, I chastised myself for once again letting my tongue utter something it shouldn't.
The tongue can certainly get us in trouble can't it? The bible describes it "as a fire, a world of evil among the body parts" with the ability to corrupt the whole body. And while we have the ability to tame all kinds of animals, "no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." As much as you and I try, we cannot control our tongues for very long. But there is One who can help us if we stay close and filled with his presence. That One is the Holy Spirit who lives inside every believer and serves to... convict us of our sin, prompt us to repent of our sin and urge us to pray that we would not repeat our sin.
In our pursuit to tame our tongue today and every day, may we make it a priority to feast on the Word and become so filled with the Spirit that we can declare we are filled to the brim!
Heavenly Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit that serves as a guide to follow you but also convicts us when we have sinned against you. Help us to grow closer to you each and every day that we might be so Spirit filled that our lips would never mutter anything they shouldn't. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment