But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. {James 3:8}

There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. {Proverbs 12:18}

The Bible compares the tongue to a fire, an untamable animal, a razor, a sword and a scourge among other things. What we say is capable of doing great harm or great good. The way we speak to people could have eternal ramifications.  The Bible says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” {Ephesians 4:29} Our words can be corrupting or edifying. That word edifying means to build up. The opposite of building up is tearing down. Do the things we say build people up or tear people down? It is amazing that Christians think that it is somehow their duty to say hurtful things to one another. They will criticize and cut one another and believe to be doing God service. I know because I’ve done it. We don’t have to be hurtful and mean-spirited to convey our point of view. One junkyard dog in fundamentalism is one too many.

I believe in being holy but holiness is inward as well as outward. I think much of the problem comes from pride. We have this desire to be just a little bit better than the next guy. And those who do not line up with the way we think shall be called names. It might do us well to remember that “…we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”{Romans 14}

I am going to try to do better at controlling my speech.

Shawn

Suggested reading:                                                                                                                            A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness – Gene Edwards                                       Letters to a Devastated Christian – Gene Edwards