Read: James 3:1-12

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. -Psalm 141:1

When Bernard Baruch was an ambitious young businessman, he asked the wealthy J.P.
Morgan to partner with him in a Texas sulfur mining venture. Geologists had given the
project a favorable report, but there was still some risk. Morgan was interested until
Baruch said, "You’ve taken bigger gambles than this."

Morgan glared at him and then replied in an icy tone, "I never gamble." The
word gambles had killed the deal.

Morgan thought that investing was respectable but that gambling was a sin.

If one word, innocently misspoken, can cost millions, think of how much damage
malicious words can cause.

They can ruin a person’s reputation and destroy the closest relationships.

James minced no words in warning about the power of the tongue. He said it’s easier to
control a horse, guide a mighty ship, and tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and
sea creatures than to control the tongue (3:3-8). He called it a "fire" ignited
by hell itself (v.6), and "an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (v.8).

We all would be wise to pray daily, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep
watch over the door of my lips" (Ps. 141:3).

-Haddon W. Robinson

Lord, set a watch upon my lips,

My tongue control today;

Help me evaluate each thought

And guard each word I say. -Hess

SPEAKING WITHOUT THINKING IS LIKE SHOOTING WITHOUT TAKING AIM.

 OUR DAILY BREAD, Copyright 1999 by Radio Bible Class,

Grand Rapids,Michigan. Used by permission.

 - Geo -

Edwardsburg, MI