"If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless. Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil." James 1:26-27 (Contemporary English Version)
How many of us can boast that we have no trouble controlling our tongues? I'm not talking about controlling food intake here! I, for one, can tell you that it is a daily struggle to watch what I say and to whom I say it.
Gossip is, in essence, idle small talk about another person. It may or may not be true, but that's not relevant. A lot of times people will drop a "hint" that someone is doing something or other that he/she shouldn't be doing, at least in the eyes of the gossip.
Slander is a bit like gossip, but on a grander scale. When a person slanders someone, it is with the intent to "smear" the other person's reputation. What's said in this case is almost always not true.
Hurtful words fall into this whole theme too. When we say things to someone to hurt his/her feelings or otherwise, we're not controlling our tongues. It's so easy to let something slip but impossible to retract it. Once said, always said.
Proverbs 31 women - let's carefully watch what comes out of our mouths this week. Give God the glory when He reminds you to be careful with your words. If you pray about it first thing each morning, you can be sure He'll poke you in the ribs, so to speak, before you speak.
James prods us toward keeping busy helping others - it's the best way to prevent idleness and the urge to speak when we ought not.
1 comment:
Great thought provoking post. I must admit that I looked up the verse in a different version. I just can't seem to get used to the simpler versions. However, the gist is the same and controlling my tongue is something I have been working on lately. I have found it best to work on controlling my thoughts as my tongue follows them.
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