[Devoted1]

"Keeping The Rein"
By Zach Wood
James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.


Every morning I arise, I pray that God will give me strength and direction to not react in any ways that would be displeasing to Him. However, I find myself losing some control day in and day out. It does not only occur at the work place, but in my home. I have a hard time controlling words that come out toward my wife and my sweet, precious little girls. I ask God to give me loving words to share with them and to encourage them, only to find myself raising my voice in anger and frustration with them more than I encourage. I realize I am only human, but I pray that God will continue to grant me strength and wisdom to react better and learn to control what I say.

Every one of us struggles with the words we use in some way or another. Some of us struggle more than others. It just depends on our upbringing and different situations and circumstances we have been in through the years. It also just depends on the choices we have made and the crowds we have chosen to be our influence.

One thing I truly appreciate about James is that he is very blunt and says we must listen to God's Word and do what it says. We must keep a tight rein on our tongue so that we do not become an ineffective witness for the Kingdom. When we profess to be a follower of Christ, but then go through our day with vulgarity or any other kind of unlcean things coming from our mouths, we damage our witnessing power. I am reminded of this every time I say something at work or at home. I always wonder what my co-workers are hearing from me and what they are thinking of me. When I am home, I wonder if my wife and my kids see Christ in me. Do they see a Godly husband/father, or do they see someone who is carelessly using words that destroy a home?

Brothers and Sisters, we need to seriously think about the words we use each day, we can really damage our witness to others. This does not mean we cannot share with others that we are imperfect and mess up. What I am saying is that if they keep seeing and hearing the same words and see the same attitude through us, it really hurts our ability to effectively minister the Gospel.

I encourage each of us to really be more aware of the words we use around people each day. Are our words building others up for the Kingdom or are they driving me away from ever wanting to know Him?
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