Judged
With Greater Strictness
Not many of you should become teachers,
my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who
teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes.
Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole
body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make
them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so
large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very
small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a
small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a
small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as
a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of
nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird,
of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human
species, but no one can tame the tongue - a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who
are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from
the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and
sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more
can salt water yield fresh.
James 3:1-12
Christians should not say words that fall
short of the standards that God holds us to. Anytime we speak any form of God's
name irreverently or in a way that does not honor Him, we displease Him.
For the glory of
God,
and with respect for
His standards,
watch your words.
Our
Daily Bread -