An Unruly Evil
Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:03 am America/Denver
Are there those around you who are dying of hunger---hunger for the Word of God? What we do, or fail to do, speaks volumes about who we are as Christians. In James 3:8-9, the apostle writes about the power of the tongue. "No man can tame the tongue," he says. "It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God."
Gossip. It's just a word--but it comes far too easily for saint and sinner alike. Dwight L. Moody told the story of a woman that confessed to her priest that she had gossiped, so he gave her a thistle-top and told her to go and spread the seeds, one by one. She was confused by this penance, but obeyed. Then, when she returned to him, he told her to go and gather up all the seeds.
She realized it was impossible. She learned her lesson.
Words--they can condemn. They can inspire, they can hurt others, and as the final lines of an old poem say, "Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds; you can't do that when you're flying words."
"Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:11.
Exerpt from 3ABN World, "Boys flying Kites" by Colleen Hauser.
Donna
Gossip. It's just a word--but it comes far too easily for saint and sinner alike. Dwight L. Moody told the story of a woman that confessed to her priest that she had gossiped, so he gave her a thistle-top and told her to go and spread the seeds, one by one. She was confused by this penance, but obeyed. Then, when she returned to him, he told her to go and gather up all the seeds.
She realized it was impossible. She learned her lesson.
Words--they can condemn. They can inspire, they can hurt others, and as the final lines of an old poem say, "Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds; you can't do that when you're flying words."
"Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:11.
Exerpt from 3ABN World, "Boys flying Kites" by Colleen Hauser.
Donna