A Braham Lincoln Once Said of someone he knew, “He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.”
We all have known people that fit this description, full of many words but few thoughts. Many politicians are masters at talking a lot and saying very little.
We need to engage the brain before we put the mouth in motion. A few choice words spoken after careful thought is much more powerful than a volume of words that rolls off the tongue with no clear-cut message. Words can be crucial, for as Solomon tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
James gives us such good solid advice about the damage that can be done with our tongues. Although we may have read these words many times, do we take the message seriously and carefully guard what we say, or do we simply nod in agreement and thoughtlessly keep right on bellowing out a stream of words as if we do not recognize the dangers of the tongue? James says:
The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is afire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
This principle of guarding our tongue is especially important in prayer, where we should use language that shows our reverence and respect for our heavenly Father. Solomon puts it well when he says, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”
The Lord’s prayer contains only 66 words. We have all heard lengthy public prayers where the one praying seems to be trying more to impress those within earshot rather than our Father in heaven. In public prayers, we are praying to God for our brothers and sisters, not praying to them. Jesus counsels, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Solomon points out, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words.”
We all say things we ought not say. Once out, we cannot get our words back. From Proverbs we learn, “A fool’s mouth is his ruin.” It is James who tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Let us take to heart the message of James and be doers of the word by biting our tongue rather than starting a forest fire with our fiery remarks.
To know and not to do is not to know. Do we know that our tongue can keep us out of the Kingdom? Jesus tells us, “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” As Solomon says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Let us choose life by learning to control our tongues.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One