Before smartphones turned us all into amateur filmmakers, people could do and say all manner of things behind closed doors and know that they could get away with it. If we take him seriously, then we’ve got to stop making excuses for our hidden anger, our buried resentment, and our tongue that is as sharp as a razor. The Lord Jesus is not as quick as we are to let us off the hook. We Christians tend to be very quick to excuse ourselves. Why bring this up? Because we are guilty of the very thing we said we would never do. Our hands are not clean because our lips are not clean. We need a spiritual alarm within that begins to sound the moment anger takes over. Is your anger keeping you from reconciling with those who have hurt you? Are you carrying a chip on your shoulder?ģ. Do you find it easy to lose your temper when things don’t go your way?Ģ. Let me ask three questions that probe at a deep level:ġ. “Just the flip of a carnal switch and it will burst into flames, and the flames can last as long as you keep the switch on.” (From the message It Only Takes a Spark.) The pilot light is always lit We’ll never get rid of that pilot light because the gas lines reach down to hell and the supply of gas is endless. Stephen Davey says our tongue is like a “pilot light” that burns as long as there is gas in the line. It corrupts the whole body, it sets the course of life on fire, and it is set on fire by hell. James wants us to think about the deadly power of the tongue. A tiny spark destroys a vast forest that takes years to regrow. We’ve all seen those ads featuring Smokey Bear reminding us that “only you can prevent forest fires.” History proves the truth of those words. Both fires caused immense damage, though the Chicago fire is better known because it destroyed the heart of the city. Few people know about this fire because it happened on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire (that reputedly started in Mrs. At its height, the fire covered over 2400 square miles, causing millions of dollars in damage. The deadliest forest fire in American history happened on October 8, 1871, when cyclonic winds following a prolonged drought whipped up a massive conflagration in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called the Great Peshtigo Fire. “It only takes a spark to get a fire going”īut a tiny spark sets a vast forest ablaze. You can cook almost anything over an open fire. It warms up a cold room, and it burns the coal that produces electricity. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (vv. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. “ So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Why is the tongue so dangerous? It Destroys Everything Good The tongue merely reflects what is in the heart. But as we will see, the tongue itself is never the problem. Left to ourselves, we will never control our tongue because it is set on fire by hell. Somewhere I ran across this quote from Elisabeth Elliot: “Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.” James 3:5-12 reminds us that the tongue has a fearful destructive power. I wonder what our friends would say about us? It was said of one man that “he never had an unspoken thought.” When you’re around them, you don’t have to say much because they dominate every conversation. We’ve all known people who couldn’t stop talking. Evidently Arabella Young never learned to control her tongue, but she’s not the only one. Let’s hope we learn our lesson better than she did. Evidently Arabella Young talked too much.Īfter she died and was buried in Hatfield, Massachusetts, someone added this epitaph:
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