Shipwrecked
A vessel out of Control
Text: Prov. 26:20
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
There are many large ships in the world, but the Maersk McKinney Moller is the largest of
its kind. A container vessel approximately twenty stories high, two hundred
feet wide, and thirteen hundred feet long; is capable of carrying more than eighteen
thousand, twenty foot containers. The containers, if placed end to end would
measure seventy miles long. Yet this behemoth, under the command of a skilled
captain, is controlled by a small helm.
There is one muscle of our body
that can cause more damage than any other and it
is caged behind our teeth, the
tongue.
The saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words
will never hurt me” is a lie. Many lives have been crushed by venomous words
that have been projected from our mouth like searing arrows. Words have changed
the course of history. They have shaped the lives of individuals to become mighty
men and women; while causing others to fail when they could have succeeded.
James 3:5-6 tells us: “ Even so the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire
kindleth!
And the tongue is a
fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire
of hell.
A
wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a
breach in the spirit.
Don’t let your tongue shipwreck
your life or the lives of others.
Louis Edwards
Great post and great reminder! I am always having to wrangle in my thoughts to control my tongue. Self-control - it's part of the fruits of the Spirit that we are asked to emulate to be more like Jesus. Again, thanks for the post!
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