“And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.” James 3:4-5
Words change things. They cause leaders to fall and the unlikely hero to rise. They make people do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. They are persuasive and transformational. Words are powerful. It only takes a few syllables to change an entire situation. Perspectives to shift... minds to change... The tongue can bring hope and a word on a page can alter the way you see things forever. In today’s verse, we see a parallel drawn between the relatively small rudder of a ship and our tongue. Both steer things. Both can shift direction. Both can cause big change.
Sometimes words can be positive... A different way of saying something can make things better... more descriptive... clearer. Huge results can come from just a few well spoken phrases. Jesus Himself used the perfect words at the perfect time to remind us that we aren’t perfect... but we are His.
But sometimes words can hurt.
They can cut us deeply and cause us to doubt ourselves and the size of our God. Maybe someone you know has hurt you with their words... and maybe you’ve started to believe what they said about you. Perhaps you’ve allowed your tongue to say a few things that caused some damage... and you don’t know how to fix it. I want to challenge you today to think about words differently. Monitor each word that you say....or text... or instagram...or tweet.... Ask yourself... is this going to build a person up? Make the world a better place? Reflect Christ? Am I controlling my tongue or is it controlling me?
It’s much better to think through our words before they leave our lips than it is to rebuild the damage caused by careless remarks. When we make the choice to honor God with every syllable... we worship the One who loves us and created us with a purpose.
