After I had written my article regarding “HEART” Janet S. asked me to write more messages on the parts of our body. So after some thought and prayer this was my deci-sion. I’m sure you, as well as me, have noticed that wher-ever you are, wherever you go, no matter what time of day or night, people are talking – talking – talking. But what are they saying, to whom are they speaking? I hesitate to calculate the number of words a person speaks each day.

Each of our body parts has one function with the exception of the tongue. It is a small part of the body but an extremely powerful one! In the book of James, chapter 3, James says “how we talk to each other matters” and further states that our words are among Satan’s favorite tools. He continues on, “with the tongue we praise our Lord and Savior and with it we curse men who have been made in God’s image. Out of the same mouth come praise and curses.” It speaks of good and evil. In good we praise God, en-courage others, build up an-other’s self-esteem and share our love for others and our love for God. In evil we de-grade, destroy, slander, gossip, ridicule, curse and use God’s name in vain. One of the Ten Com-mandments states “Thou shall not kill.” But how many times do words kill someone’s self-esteem, kill their hopes and joys, and kill their spirit? Today, sadly, we hear of so many young people taking their lives because the devas-tation and despair of bullying was something they could no long tolerate. Works have divided fami-lies, destroyed relationships, broken marriages and killed forgiveness. Gossiping tears down, betrays confidences, and judges others unfairly. We create pain and suf-fering with words of anger, jealousy, unforgiveness and quarreling.

James teaches that “we are incapable of taming our tongues.” He continues saying that even wild animals are tamed by humans yet one part of the human body is untamable. Only God can control it as we yield to Him. The Bible says we are to be imitators of Christ and we are to strive to live godly lives. I wish I could say that my words were always good, never evil. I wish I could say that the Holy Spirit has never had to convict me of words I have spoken. My prayer is that I will strive to pause before I speak and ask myself if my words are for good or for evil. My prayer is also for you and me that we will use our words for good – joy, peace, happiness, encouragement and praising God. Maybe in the days and weeks ahead we can ask God to make all of us more conscious of how we speak. When I was a child we sang this song – “Sticks and stones may hurt my bones but names will never harm me.” How did we ever believe that???

Submitted by Judy P.

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