James 5:6– It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech—we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos; throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell (MSG).
When Grandpa gave us chocolate Easter bunnies, I gobbled mine up as fast as I could. My two-year-old brother, on the other hand, was still admiring his when ….. POKE! “You don’t want to eat broken bunny ears, do you?”I asked. “No.”he answered. So I ate them.
POKE! “You don’t want to eat broken bunny tummy, do you?”
“No”, he cried.
Well, you get the idea. By the time mom got to me, brother only had chocolate toes left.
Hurtful words are like that. Little by little, they eat away at a person’s spirit. Maya Angelou, the American poet, compares this to being nibbled to death by ducks. We are still alive but in great pain.
Prayer: Who have we belittled with our tongue, Lord? Bring those people to our minds. We ask your forgiveness, Lord, and then we will ask theirs. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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