| At amusement parks, the
bumper-car ride is always popular. People enjoy driving recklessly
for a few minutes, bumping deliberately but armlessly
into other people's cars.
Some people have a bumper-car mentality in their relationships
with others. Using blunt words, they deliberately bump into
others' feelings, which is anything but harmless.
Solomon wrote, "He who restrains his lips is wise"
(Proverbs 10:19). But James said, "No man can tame the
tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison"
(James 3:8). He said that with the tongue we bless our God
who created us, but we also curse those whom He has created
(v.9). Lest we think that Christians do the blessing and non-Christians
do the cursing, we need to remember that James was writing
to Christians.
To tame our tongues, we need God's help. In Romans 6:13,
Paul said that we need to make a choice to present the parts
of our body "as instruments of righteousness to God,"
not "as instruments of unrighteousness to sin."
Today and every day, choose to present your body including
your unruly tongue as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:2)
to be used by Him as an instrument of blessing.
To bridle your tongue, give God the reins of your heart.
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