Control the tongue

Recent events on the national scene remind us of the need to control our tongue! "No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil." (James 3:8) The tongue can be a godly servant or a terrible demon. It can speak the truth or tell lies. It can comfort or it can cut. It can arouse people to honorable action or incite them to violent destruction. It can encourage people to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus as their Savior or it can entice people to commit sin that leads to damnation in hell if not repented of.

A "sharp tongue" likes to "slice and dice" people for any reason and keeps a polished and sharp edge. A "nasty tongue" glories in nagging, irritating and annoying people and delights in getting in every dirty dig possible. A "boasting and bragging tongue" loves to promote self and belittle others. A "deceiving tongue" despises truth and delights in lies. A "fault-finding tongue" enjoys overlooking one's own faults and magnifying those of others. A "filthy and foul tongue" engages in all kinds of filthy, dirty jokes and innuendos.

In our fight to control our tongues, may we remember that "the secret of tongue control" is not "self-control" but "Christ-control." May God's forgiving love for all our sins in the shed blood of Jesus, including the sin of failed tongue control, move us in the midst of the heated rhetoric in our country to use our tongues to "build up one another", "encourage one another" and "minister grace" to those who hear.

REV. DAVID V. DISSEN, Cape Girardeau