Even decades later, I continue to be haunted by those hateful words I said as an angry hurt teenager to my Mother. My soul hurts by the careless words, told to me by my 80-year-old Grandmother, who I idolized, who is long since gone to be with the Lord. After the words escaped, I remember, her also saying, “what did I say, I don’t know where those words came from, that is not like me.” I can relate to that, sometimes, words come out of my mouth, and I have no idea who said that.
The tongue is deceptive
John MacArthur, in his commentary on James, says, “The tongue is you in a unique way. It is a tattletale that tells on the heard and discloses the real person. Not only that, but misuse of the tongue is perhaps the easiest way to sin.” Think of all of the ways that the tongue can deceive us and others, below are just a few:
- Lying
- Unkindness
- Gossip
- Off-color remarks
- Bragging
- Sarcastic remarks
- Complaining
James Chapter 3:1-12 has a heading in my Bible, Controlling the tongue. Through these verses, we will discover why James includes the tongue in every chapter in James. The tongue has the power to build up or destroy. James teaches that our tongue is an extension of our living faith. If we can control our tongue and use our words to build up and encourage rather than for evil, we are exhibiting a genuine faith. We will delve into these 12 verses in the next few days.
103 How sweet Your word is to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth.
Dear Lord, as we prepare for the day, let us prepare our tongues to kind and uncomplaining. Let our words be sweet as honey.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 119:103). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
