James 3

11/26/2012

Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

A Choice
I love James. There is so much wise and practical advice in this book. Chapter 3 is certainly no exception, and is a rightfully well-known passage. James is so clear and vivid here that I don't really think I need to say much else beyond what he says. Just a quick thought:

James says that blessing and cursing can't come from the same mouth just like fresh and salt water can't come from the same stream. He paints a picture of the power of the tongue that shows how truly devastating it can be. I know personally that I can think of things that people said to me years ago that I still remember vividly because they were so destructive. The tongue is powerful.

So it seems we have a choice. Will we speak life and build up others, or will we speak death and destroy them?

My encouragement is for you to ask this question of yourself whenever you speak. Realize the power of the tongue and use it for good. Make the choice to not speak death to others or of others. Don't just be neutral either! Actively seek ways to build others up and encourage them!

Questions? Comments?

Andrei

11/26/2012 05:42:11 pm

Worddd... I think many of us in S&L would definitely second Pastor Greg's encouragement that we use our tongues to build each other up...

greg

11/27/2012 04:06:49 am

I think often we try to pass our "speaking death" off as a joke. We kid each other all of the time and tear each other down doing so. This is the worst trap of the tongue I think. We think it's cheesy to encourage. There has to be a MAJOR change in thinking and behavior to change that.

Andrei

11/27/2012 04:34:04 pm

Worddd... talking with a few others, I guess a big part of it is feeling vulnerable and/or not knowing what to say to others to encourage them... i guess the act of encouragement also isn't positively encouraged too much by the social culture at church as well... definitely praying for change. .

Kevin Kuo

11/29/2012 03:02:57 pm

I remember during training our drill instructors treated us very harshly. So much so that suicide watch was standard procedure. Even so one vivid memory was when my platoon Lt said you motivate me midshipman candidate Kuo. Because I opted to regroup with my platoon for drill even though I was issued boots that were a size too small. It was a great encouragement.

greg

11/30/2012 03:38:07 am

Good illustration of the power of words. I'm thinking right now about how worthless a lot of our words can be. I think we all have some vivid memories of positive and negative words about/to us, but what's really striking me now is how forgettable most of our words are. I guess that's what I was saying about merely moving past being neutral: we need to move ON to positive speech that is memorable in encouragement, like you mentioned.

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James 3

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