Bite Your Tongue!

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

James 1:26

The tongue refers to that muscle on the floor of our mouth that has to do with taste, food manipulation, and speech. This small organ of God’s creation can be an instrument of good or evil.

It is hard to write a devotional about the tongue because it drops a big mirror right down in front of me. “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who needs this most of all?” ME!!!!  

Jesus’ brother James wrote very stern words in James 3:3-6, 8-11. “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, 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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

But the flip side of all the damage our tongues can do is all the good it can do when our eyes are focused on the Lord and we ask for His help. Philippians 2:11, “And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Hebrews 3:13, “Encourage one another daily.” Then Psalm 71:23-24 states,“My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to You, I whom You have redeemed. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long.”

With our tongue we can choose to praise our Savior; tell others the Good News of salvation; and speak words of kindness, comfort, encouragement, and truth. The use of our tongue falls under that Fruit of the Spirit called Self- Control.

Tempted to gossip? Bite your tongue! Tempted to belittle? Bite your tongue! Tempted to lie?  Bite your tongue! Tempted to curse? Bite your tongue!

Claudia Jackson