Days 147 & 148 - The Untamable Tongue

This is a photo of two of my three children. All of my girls and I had gone sledding one weekend, and this is a photo that was taken.

Today in church, we studied James 3, "The Untamable Tongue."

Verses 6 through 9 say, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men."

We often say the worst things to those we love the most. Without a second thought at what is flowing out of our mouths, we can reduce our children, our spouses, and our loved ones to rubble with one sentence spoken in haste. In anger, we shout things we later regret.

We can tame the fiercest lion...yet we cannot tame our tongues.

Father God, please help me to be uplifting, encouraging, and thoughtful when speaking to my loved ones. May I learn to reign in my tongue before speaking words in anger. May others come to know me as an encouraging person full of God's love.

Amen.