A Mediatation on the Tongue
August 31st, 2007 by tempe
We are probably all familiar with the warnings of James concerning the tongue in chapter 3 of his epistle:
But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
I was reading from Proverbs 15 this afternoon, and was reminded that this was nothing new — we are warned about the destructiveness (as well as the edifying capability) of the tongue in the OT:
A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly. … A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.
That last verse if particularly striking. May we learn to use our tongues properly (to build up others, to speak the truth in love, to speak the truth about God) rather than fill them with the poison of perverse speech.