James 3:1-12 (NRSV)
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Chapter 3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Verse 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. Verse 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Verse 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. Verse 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! Verse 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. Verse 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, Verse 8but no one can tame the tongue-a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Verse 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. Verse 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Verse 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Verse 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Devotion
Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back. Apologies, retractions and disclaimers just don’t have enough power to recall a spoken word or to undo the damage words can cause.
Do not bear false witness. Today a word is often posted as a message or a tweet. It’s born with wings and it can cross mountains and oceans before one blinks. It is seen by a thousand sets of eyes before one breathes.
Do not bear false witness. But words truly spoken can ring as hymns of praise. They can touch and heal, lift up and make whole. “I love you.” “That’s beautiful.” “Thank you.” With our words, we bless our Lord and one another. With our words, we sing God’s praise.
Do not bear false witness; but speak, shout, sing, post, message and tweet of God’s love. Let every word be praise.
Prayer
Lord God, help us to guard our tongue, our pens and our communications, so that we lift up one another and sing of your glory in all things. Amen.