If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. - James 1:26 NLT
Several years ago I had oral surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed. I was not put out for the surgery, I was given novacane to deaden the feeling in my mouth while the surgeon removed the teeth
After the surgery, it took a couple of hours to regain feeling in my mouth. My lips and tongue had no feeling at all, which made it difficult to talk and be understood. I had no physical control of my tongue! I was glad when the novacane wore off, although it did bring me pain for quite a while when I began to feel the effects of what the novacane was suppressing.
I am reminded of today's verse in James 1:26, "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless."
As believers, we should work to control our tongue. Our words have a lot of power, which can be used for good or bad. When we allow our tongues to be out of control, we may not feel it right away but we (and many times others) will eventually feel the pain of our actions. We should be intentional and conscious about our words and how they will effect others as well as our witness as believers.
How is your tongue control?