Positive or Negative?
Read
James 3:9-11
9With it we both bless the Lord and Father and curse human beings made in God's likeness. 10Blessing and cursing come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, it just shouldn't be this way!
11Both fresh water and salt water don't come from the same spring, do they?
Reflect
The Bible says that everything we do should be done for the glory of God. This would include not only our actions, but the words we speak, too.
So, does that mean that we are supposed to limit what we say to only quotes from Scripture and chants of praise? No. While most of us could...and should...spend a little more time each day praising God, life demands other conversations as well.
But the truth is, every time we speak, we have the choice to either speak in a positive way or a negative way. With our words, we can either build somebody up or tear somebody down. With our words, we either speak the love of Jesus or something completely opposite.
Today's passage says we can't have it both ways. We either speak and act like people of God or we don't. There are no "office hours" or "timeouts." This is the way we live--all day, every day. And this is how we treat people--not just the people we like, but all people.
That isn't always easy. Even faithful people of God sometimes don't get enough sleep, or have a bad day, or for some other reason get cranky. But we have to remember that we are witnesses for Jesus. And so if people hear us cutting down others or gossiping or swearing, how good of witnesses are we being?
Respond
Consider the words you are about to say before you say them. If you feel like you're in a bad mood, stop and re-center yourself with some prayer. And if you have spoken poorly to somebody, seek forgiveness from that person.
Relate
If today's devotion spoke to you in a particular way and you feel led to share your thoughts with others, please do so.