Sticks and stones may break my bones.....

James 3:1-12
"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."



Ever hear the little saying growing up"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" Usually it's yelled at someone on the playground being a big meanie head, yes I just said meanie head. The truth is, that saying is a lie, as Pastor Fletcher at Manna Church once said, "sticks and stones may break the bones, but words will crush the spirit." Yes my friends "the tongue has the power of life and death" ( Proverbs 18:21 ), we should very careful with the things we say, because; we can really hurt others, and ourselves. It goes Back to the whole "slow to speak" ( James 1:19 ) thing.


We can hurt our friends by saying thoughtless/careless things, or saying cruel and pointed and very uncalled for things, now most of us don't want to hurt our friends from just plain meanness. But, sometimes we do because we are broken sinful creatures. Now grated, there are times when someones feelings will be hurt because we told them the Truth out of love, but that is another blog entirely! So, we really do need to think BEFORE we speak when it come to those we love, and figure out what is behind the thought. If it is love that is one thing, pray about it and ask God to help you know what to say, but if it is just hatefulness, there is this wonderful trick my mother showed me, and i will be glad to tell you about it:

Step 1: Part teeth, while maintaining your lips sealed.

Step 2: Put tongue between teeth, still maintaining your lips sealed.

Now this one is very important, please read carefully!

Step 3: Bite down on tongue, HARD, as hard as you can stand it!!

(just be careful not to actually bite your tongue off, this can be and unfortunate side effect)


Now the fun part, hurting ourselves. I know I do this one, we all do. It may not seem like it at the time, but it can come back to bite us. A good example would be work, you want a promotion, or a raise in pay. And you work hard, but you talk to other employees about the boss, and say some not so nice things about them, and it gets back to them. Do you really think your going to get that promotion, or pay raise as soon as you hoped, or at all for that matter?? Or even in your daily life, you can make some enemies or drive people way just for running your mouth to much. Because, i mean really think about it, who really want to be around someone who, gossips, slanders another, says cruel things, is picking at them all the time, complaining about their life constantly, knows EVERYTHING all...the...time, or just attacking seemingly every chance they get??? Hey, I know I don't want to be around someone like that. That would be another place for my mothers trick, and if you hear yourself talking and no one else, that would be a clue to shut your mouth.


But, the reality of it is, we are broken, sinful creature, whom will never attain perfection. And, will mess up...ALOT! We must consistently give it back to God, and ask Him to speak thru us, and give us the words we need, to make the best possible impact on others, and our own lives. So that we may stay on the course he has for us. Let God be the pilot of the ships that are our lives.



"....take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go."