“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, … his religion is worthless.” — James 1:26 — Read: Proverbs 25:11-18
We have a spiritual obligation to think through the impact of the words we say. If we don’t, or if we simply don’t care, we can inflict great harm.
In 1980, Lee Atwater, who later managed the 1988 Bush campaign for President, inflicted terrible emotional pain on a Democratic candidate who was running Congress. When he learned that the candidate had suffered through a severe battle with depression years before and had received electric shock treatments, Atwater released that information to the press.
The candidate was angry and hurt. In anguish, he questioned Atwater’s unfair tactics. Atwater responded that he had no intention of answering a person “hooked up to a jumper cable.”
Not only did he succeed in shamefully humiliating the candidate, but with these cruel words Atwater offended everyone who has ever undergone this type of therapy.
Ten years later, Atwater was hospitalized with an inoperable brain tumor. He lay in bed, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and wires and machines. Before he died, he wrote a letter to that South Carolina candidate, apologizing for his horrible statements and begging his forgiveness. He finally realized how much his words must have hurt, so he tried to make it right.
How quickly the harsh and cruel words slip out! They can hit so hard, with the speaker scarcely giving a thought to the damage he is doing until it’s too late. You might as well have been slugged with a baseball bat or run over by a bus. And so often it’s our best friends or families or fellow believers who are slammed the hardest with our words.
Our religion is worthless, James said, if we do not consider the impact of our words (1:26). Ask the Lord Jesus to help you think before you speak! — DE
REFLECTION
* Have I been terribly hurt by someone’s words? What words would I use to describe the feeling?
* How can I become more aware of the impact of my words on people?
* What does James 3:1-12 tell us that an unchecked tongue is like?
Words can hit harder than a baseball bat.
[see HolwickID #5454]