Devotional - James 3:5-6

"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

The tongue is a very delicate and extremely powerful tool. So small, yet so destructive. Just like the bit in the mouth of a horse or the rudder of a boat, the tongue is a small part of the body that can manipulate and determine the entire course of a person's life. It can take just a spark to set a forest ablaze, and likewise a simple comment can blast into an explosive argument. Destruction comes in the tiniest of packages, but just the same, praise and encouragement can come from the tongue. It has the power to take life or give life, curse or bless, ridicule or edify. So what will we choose? Will we have a tongue that destroys or lips that lift up? We are free-willed to choose and Christ gives us the power to speak life into others.