James 3:1-12
One profession that we should not have too many people in is
the role of a teacher. Teachers bear a
hard burden in that because they instruct others, they will be judged more
strictly than everyone else. It is true
that everyone messes up and makes mistakes, so there will be things that
teachers must be judged on just like everyone else.
One of the things we need to be most careful about is what
we say. If you could be in perfect
control of what you say all the time, and never say anything mean or wrong,
then you would indeed be a perfect human.
However that is just not possible.
Horses are trained generally with bits that help guide them
in the direction the rider wishes to go.
Ships that are powered by the wind are directed by the rudder. Horsepower or wind power, it matters not, for
they are large forces that are controlled by small things. These small things are responsible for which
direction the entire horse or the entire ship travel. The tongue is the same way and can control
which direction our lives go.
A tiny spark can cause great forest fires that a country's
leader then declares a national disaster.
The flames affecting so many despite it's small beginnings. So the tongue can bring the entire person to
ruin and the eternal consequences of that mistake not matter how small it may
seem.
Humans have tamed and trained every animal known. Everything that swims, flies, walks, crawls,
etc is affected by us. Yet despite all
that we can do with the creatures in our surroundings, there is no hope for
complete control over our words. Our
speech alone is like a poison, deadly in many ways.
Yes, we praise God with blessings and music. However we also hurt the humans around
us. How can we speak both good and
bad? A spring can't have both sweet
water and bitter water. A fig tree can't
grow grapes and a grapevine can't grow figs.
So no spring can have both salt water and freshwater. Think of these things and be more careful
with what words you allow yourself to say.
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