|| Tongue ||

Below is an excerpt from a devotional email I wrote last week for a Bible Reading and Scripture Memorization team I am apart of.

This past week I have been thinking and meditating on a verse from our memorization in James. As I was running last week I was listening to the entire book on my phone and there was a verse that really stood out to me. It hit me like a tone of bricks right between the eyes. James 3:9 "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;..." What o what could this be talking about? Our mouth! Elsewhere in scripture we are warned about the power of the tongue and it damaging effects. But that is not really what  struck me. What struck me was the fact that our mouth that we are praying, praising God, and sharing His gospel with others is the same mouth that is tearing others down, issuing cutting remarks, and uttering unclean language. We use that same mouth to Praise God? What grace we have been shown! In the Old Testament we are preparing to read about some of the laws with which the Israelite's were to govern their lives by. Including such simple things so that if a lowly item like a clay pot was even to touch something unclean it was to be broken and cast out. As I was thinking on this and evaluating my own mouth and heart I was driven to me knees because of God's unconditional mercy and grace for me. What a humbling reminder to "Let NO unwholesome word proceed from my mouth". Blessings in the fight!Richard