“Watch Your Tongue!”

“Watch Your Tongue!”(Jm.3:1-10).
Remember this story? It was holiday period. Back in the village a group of girls were having fun time as they each talked about the subjects each hated in the university. They assumed that they had all entered the university. One of them who was not fortunate to enter university but wanted to impress the others told them that the subject she hated most was syllabus. Imagine the embarrassment! “Speech is silver, silence is golden!”
It is not only ignorance that is displayed through over talking; “what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean…”(Mk.7:20-23).
However, there are some professions where talking is essential; the most common of them is teaching. We may have other professions that requires talking, but teaching is anterior to them all.
Teachers have a huge impact on society through their words. Generally words can make or mar a people. It takes a few words for a lunatic to distabilize a community of peace loving people.
Back to teachers: Teaching is a noble profession and commands respect. As the saying goes, “everyone remembers a good teacher.” Unfortunately, this noble profession is being rubbed down in mud as there are many today who are teachers because they lacked the possibility of becoming what they wanted to be. And when you are not in love with what you do, you may not do it well.
For the fact that teachers influence others through talking, James writes, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
It is important to think properly before speaking because “the tongue…is 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.”
Therefore, “watch your tongue!” Think properly, gather your thoughts well before you speak; for your words define you more or less.
As Christians we cannot use the tongue “to praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.” Praise and cursing should not come out of the same mouth.
James says “no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
If that is the case, we can at least be able to curb the spread of this restless evil so that its deadly poison consumes itself and dies within.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit purify my thoughts so that I use my tongue appropriately. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Prayer point: Pray that the Holy Spirit should fill hearts with praise and love.
Rev Babila Fochang.