A Tiny Spark
James 3:3-5 We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits we can control their whole body. It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. And the one who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. It goes where he wants it to go. It is the same with our tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it can boast about doing great things. A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame.
As body parts go, your tongue isn’t particularly large – not like a hand or a foot, right? But even with its diminutive size, it can cause a world of blessing or a world of pain. How’s your tongue doing?
The other day, we looked at this Scripture together:
Luke 6:45 Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.
In other words, as Jesus is often quoted as saying, the tongue speaks out of the overflow of the heart. Without purity of heart, without a heart that’s chosen to draw close to Jesus, to yearn for Him, to follow Him, to worship Him, to obey Him … without that sort of a heart, there’s rarely any good in the overflow.
But no matter how pure your heart is, things will still come along to annoy you; things will happen to set you off.
James 3:3-5 We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits we can control their whole body. It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. And the one who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. It goes where he wants it to go. It is the same with our tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it can boast about doing great things. A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame.
Control your tongue.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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