The Book of JamesSample

Today's Devotional:

In yesterday’s verses, James talked about the importance of taming our tongues:

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 body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell (James 3:5-8).

Our tongues can destroy. Think about it. Gossip is just as effective at causing damage as a match carelessly discarded in the woods. Just gossiping about someone can make their reputation go up in flames in no time flat. More sins are committed with the tongue than any other part of your body—not just gossip but also lying, slander, insults, boasting, flattery, hypocrisy, and so on. To make matters worse, James says: “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Yikes!

While we might not be able to tame the tongue, there are some things we can do to minimize the amount of damage that we do with it. Can I get super practical with you? I’ve learned in my own life that if I want to stop sinning, a great way to start is to stop talking. Seriously! You want to sin less with your words? Then talk less. You think I’m kidding? Read Proverbs 10:19: “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”

I have found in my own life that the less I talk, the clearer my conscience ends up being. The less I talk, the less I gossip. The less I talk, the less I lie. The less I talk, the less I boast. The less I talk, the less I say things I regret. I suspect the same is true for you!

This is hard for us to do, but it’s super important. We don’t need to participate in every conversation. We don’t have to post in response to everything we see on social media. We don’t have to express every thought that comes to mind. Instead, we should pause and carefully consider our words before we speak. We need to ask ourselves, are these words necessary? If not, why say them?

As much as possible, let’s try using our tongues to “praise our Lord and Father,” to bless others, and not to curse them. Amen?

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Today's devotional was written by Pastor Drew Hage.

Question:

1. What would happen if you committed to speaking less over the next seven days?

Prayer:

Jesus, would you help us to speak less and to make sure that when we do speak, we carefully consider our words before we do so? As much as possible, we want to use our tongues for praise rather than cursing! In Jesus’ name, amen.