Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.— James 3:5-10
What a horrible horrible picture James paints. The very half brother of Jesus experiences the same evil that I find myself involved in today. The bible really is forever relevant. It is so amazing and disturbing how we cannot control such a small thing as our tongues. I mean even if we took 2 seconds before we open our big mouths we may realize that the damaging/stupid/unnecessary comment we are about to breathe into the world isn’t worth it. There is one verse of a popular song that says “but there are voices that want to be heard” which I see as a perfect description of how our minds work. We have these voices in us that want desperately for others to hear, to hear how we were hurt, to hear how insensitive someone was to our feelings, or even to hear how good and godly we are. It’s like these words that want nothing more than to escape from my body. It is truly an act of God almighty to hold those things in. I just sit here and think, the bible is “god-breathed”, these are his holy words at the top of this page and what are they saying about me?? And yes, they are about me, I have no problem admitting that (a little disgust in myself, but no denial). “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” I’ve seen my forest of friends burned down time and time again by a single spark made by an inconsiderate tongue. And God makes it quite clear that this fire making it’s way through our friendships is the very hellfire that eternal damnation is made of. It’s basically a little piece of Satan’s masterpiece. And the last verse is what truly and honestly brings tears to my eyes. From the same mouth that we tear down, gossip, and curse each other, we lift our voices to God. He isn’t fooled! He knows my heart, he knows what I said about Sally 20 minutes ago, he weeps for my evil actions still as I try to give him my praises. I, frankly, am tired of living as Satan’s pawn to keep Christians hating each other, to keep friendships in constant competition, to keep us from working together to show the world the “peace” God offers. I want my friends to truly truly know without a doubt that my words and actions are not to harm them. If they are happy (even if I am not involved in this happiness) I am happy, if they are hurting, my heart breaks with them and I will do anything in my power to make them smile again, if they speak against me, I WILL NOT retaliate but instead, whenever I get that evil urge I will try to speak something kind about them to someone else. If a friend and I are going through trials with each other, I want to vent only to God. I will make sure my words are sweet…….just in case I have to eat them.
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