Though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. —James 3:5
One August day in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a woman stopped to light a cigarette. Tossing the still-burning match onto the ground, she saw it catch fire and then she sped away. By the time the blaze was contained, it had burned 83,000 acres, destroying timber valued at more than 40 million dollars. She was eventually convicted and sentenced to more than thirty years in prison.
It’s easy to think, How dare someone leave a burning match in a dry forest? Yet how often do we throw out our words with similar carelessness? We may just walk away after saying things that deeply wound others, not caring to look back at the damage we’ve caused. Yet while our words can inflict great damage, Scripture says “the tongue that heals is a tree of life” (Prov. 15:4), the beginning of something strong and enduring.
May our words be under the control of His Spirit, giving grace, blessing, and hope to those around us.
------------------
The Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Readings © 2012 Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
Ask God to guard your tongue and make you conscious of the impact of your words on those around you