Burning Words


Several years ago, I stood aghast as I watched my friend’s house go up in flames. She had left her home with her family only thirty minutes earlier. Now I stood in front of the raging fire, staring at her infant in my arms. What would happen now?

The book of James tells us that the tongue is like a small spark that starts a fire. This took on new meaning for me in light of watching the fire wreak havoc on my friend’s home. The tongue’s harm is just as dangerous. Once a word has been spoken, there’s no taking it back. The damage is done, and sometimes the hurtful repercussions have only begun. Words have the power to destroy relationships.

I talked about in an earlier post how the enemy plans to kill, steal, and destroy. Many times he uses our words as weapons. Learning to tame the tongue is difficult, but necessary. We must learn to be quick to listen and slow to speak. This isn’t a lesson we learn once, but one that we have to practice every day of our lives.

The author of Proverbs tells us in 25:11 that a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. God can use a kind, compassionate response to diffuse potentially explosive situations. May our words be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, O God!

So, like the children’s song suggests – “O be careful little lips what you say…”

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Tears to Joy: Burning Words

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Burning Words


Several years ago, I stood aghast as I watched my friend’s house go up in flames. She had left her home with her family only thirty minutes earlier. Now I stood in front of the raging fire, staring at her infant in my arms. What would happen now?

The book of James tells us that the tongue is like a small spark that starts a fire. This took on new meaning for me in light of watching the fire wreak havoc on my friend’s home. The tongue’s harm is just as dangerous. Once a word has been spoken, there’s no taking it back. The damage is done, and sometimes the hurtful repercussions have only begun. Words have the power to destroy relationships.

I talked about in an earlier post how the enemy plans to kill, steal, and destroy. Many times he uses our words as weapons. Learning to tame the tongue is difficult, but necessary. We must learn to be quick to listen and slow to speak. This isn’t a lesson we learn once, but one that we have to practice every day of our lives.

The author of Proverbs tells us in 25:11 that a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. God can use a kind, compassionate response to diffuse potentially explosive situations. May our words be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, O God!

So, like the children’s song suggests – “O be careful little lips what you say…”

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