Beyond the Weekend

July 12 | Be on Guard

July 12, 2018

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

No human being can tame the tongue. James 3:8a

Read: James 3:7-8

Listen: James 3

TODAY’S MESSAGE

James tells his church that we can tame all kinds of animals, but not the tongue. James is emphasizing for them to understand the importance of what they say. He knows their speech can be used for good or can cause real damage. James also knows they aren’t getting along and are using their words to hurt each other. He longs for them to change. He challenges them to tame their tongues.

Taming the tongue is just as relevant today and just as challenging—if not more. Social media means we have more public ways to say hurtful things than they did during the first century. If we want to control what comes out of our mouth, we have to be on guard and take it seriously. We have to be intentional.

A few weeks ago, Senior Pastor Jeff Manion encouraged us to ask ourselves these four questions from Emerson Eggerichs’s book Before You Hit Send: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it clear? We will begin to tame our tongue if we can get in the habit of asking these four questions on a regular basis.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

We have to accept that our speech is something we will have to work on for our whole life. It isn’t something we can just check off a list. Today, confess to God there are times that you have used your speech to hurt and ask him to help you use your speech for good. Download the lock screen below to encourage you throughout the day as a reminder of the need to tame our tongues.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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