February 20If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue … this man's religion is vain — Jas. 1:26.
Because the tongue is the index of the heart, because "out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," therefore the unbridled tongue, speaking selfishly, enviously, bitterly, boastfully, slanderously, proves that the heart from whose fullness these overflow is unsanctified, unholy, grievously lacking of the spirit of Christ; hence, whatever religion it may have attained is thus far vain, as that heart is not saved, nor in a salvable condition. But the Good Physician has pointed out antidotes for soul-poisoning—medicines which, if properly taken according to directions, will sweeten the bitter heart—Z '99, 215 (R 2517). To bridle the tongue means to control and direct it. Controlling the tongue from saying evil things, and directing it in saying good things, is a part of the bridling of the tongue. He who allows his tongue to become the instrument of a depraved disposition is not a man of true religious character, whose chief element is love for God and man. Such a tongue violates the law of love, inasmuch as it inflicts injury upon all whom it berates. Therefore let us control our tongues, keeping them from running away in evil and directing them in talking rightly—P '30, 14. Parallel passages: Jas. 3:1-12; Psa. 18:21; 12:3; 34:13; 39:1; 140:3; Prov. 16:27; Matt. 15:18, 19; Acts 5:3; 2 Tim. 2:23-25; Matt. 6:5-9; 23:14-22, 27; Eccles. 5:2; Jas. 1:27. Hymns: 136, 78, 13, 20, 1, 82, 130. Poems of Dawn, 301: A Wrecker or a Builder? Tower Reading: Z '14, 245 (R 5517). Questions: How have I used my tongue this week? What helped or hindered therein? What resulted therefrom? |
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A WRECKER OR A BUILDER
I WATCHED them tear a building down,
A crew of men in a busy town;
With a ho and a heave and a lusty yell,
They swung a beam and down the wall fell.
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled?
The kind you would hire if you would build?"
The foreman replied, "Why, no, indeed!
Common laborers are all I need,
For they can wreck in a day or two
That which has taken years to do."
So I asked myself as I went on my way,
"What part in the game of life do you play?
Are you shaping your life to a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best that you can?
Or are you a wrecker that walks the town,
Content with the pleasure of tearing down?"
I WATCHED them tear a building down,
A crew of men in a busy town;
With a ho and a heave and a lusty yell,
They swung a beam and down the wall fell.
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled?
The kind you would hire if you would build?"
The foreman replied, "Why, no, indeed!
Common laborers are all I need,
For they can wreck in a day or two
That which has taken years to do."
So I asked myself as I went on my way,
"What part in the game of life do you play?
Are you shaping your life to a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best that you can?
Or are you a wrecker that walks the town,
Content with the pleasure of tearing down?"
