Taming The Tongue

Taming the tongue is a common and constant challenge. Unless our hearts are changed and purified and our minds are renewed, our mouth will continue to make a fool of itself and wreak havoc.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27)

About the tongue: (James 3)

• Is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts
• Corrupts the whole person and sets the whole course of his life on fire
• All kinds of animals have been tamed by man, 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. This should not be!

A person's tongue is also likened to:

• When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
• A ship which is large and driven by strong winds, but steered by a very small rudder to wherever the pilot wants it to go.
• A small spark that sets a great forest on fire.

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