No Exemptions - Encouragement Café - Jan. 2, 2015

No Exemptions

Café Menu For: January 2, 2015

Today’s Special is:  Taming the Tongue

Carefully prepared for you by your friend, Margaret Curtis

Main Ingredient:

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”  James 1:26 (NIV)

Entrée:

Did you catch that, sisters?  Worthless.  God says my religion is worthless if I cannot control my tongue.  Ouch!  That’s a “hard thing to hear,” as Jesus’ disciples said to Him on occasion.

It’s hard to navigate through this life and be all our Lord wants us to be.  The tongue is the hardest thing for us to control; but we still don’t get a pass from God on controlling it or not.  If it is impossible for us to control, how do we do it?  What a shock it is when the Holy Spirit reveals to us the deadly, far-reaching effects of the sins of the tongue.

We have to realize that in this passage James is not talking to the world.  He is talking to Christians!  He’s talking to me, and He’s talking to you.

We can use our words for building up or for tearing down.  If I find myself using my words more for tearing down, what can I do?  The first thing I must do is realize that apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, I can do nothing.  My first course of action is prayer.  Then I need to recognize where I am most vulnerable in my use of words. 

Do I:

• Complain a lot?
• Criticize?
• Gossip?
• Talk too much?

If I can begin to focus on how I am using my tongue, I can begin to turn things around, and I will begin to see the benefits of bringing this small but powerful part of my body under subjection to the glory of God.

Take Out:

Begin your mornings by reciting this verse from the Psalmist: 

“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3 (NIV)

Dessert:

Dear Father, I grieve when I read that my actions render me worthless in Your kingdom.  It breaks my heart to know I hurt You so badly.  Please forgive me for allowing this part of my relationship with You to falter so often.  Help me to meditate on Your Word and to commit Scripture to memory to bring my tongue under Your control.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

2011 by Margaret Curtis.  All rights reserved.

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