BUILDING UP VS TEARING DOWN

Read: JAMES 3

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Bible in a year: Jeremiah 42-45

One afternoon while shopping at the supermarket, a woman met her friend who had just had her hair cut. "You look so beautiful," she praised. Her friend felt happy and instantly her confidence increased. Later that evening, her child handed in his math test with a grade of five. "You are so stupid," she said while scolding him. The child felt sad and said to himself, "I am so stupid." With her words, the woman made one person happy and one person suffer. One mouth resulted in two completely opposite things. James also highlighted this wonder when warning about the tongue. In fact, the tongue can build up or tear down! With our tongue we can praise, with our tongue we can also curse. In this world, no spring produces both fresh water and bitter water. A fig tree does not bear olives, nor does a grapevine bear figs. The tongue is like a spring and a plant, both are sources. Therefore, it should not necessarily result in two different consequences when we speak. The mouth should not speak blessings and curses at the same time. Only one, and it should be a blessing. Today's devotional aims to remind us to pay attention to our tongue. Be careful, do not let the tongue echo things that should not be heard by the ears. Think before speaking, so that the tongue fulfills God's purpose in creating it. When speaking, remember to bless, not to hurt. Release support, not curses. Make the people around us happy, not suffer. Of course we can criticize, rebuke, or advise, just do it politely and without judgment. In short, let us build up others with our words, not tear them down.

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MAY OUR WORDS ALWAYS BLESS OUR LISTENERS, INSTEAD OF HURTING THEIR HEARTS

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