DCLM Daily Manna 8 July 2024 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — “Watch Your Tongue!”
TOPIC: “Watch Your Tongue!” (DCLM Daily Manna 8 July 2024)
KEY VERSE: “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body” (James 3:3).
TEXT: James 3:1-12 (KJV)
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
MESSAGE:
Kondraty Ryleyev was sentenced to death by hanging for his part in an unsuccessful uprising against the Russian Czar, Nicholas I in December 1825. But the rope broke, and Ryleyev, bruised and battered, fell to the ground, got up, and said, “In Russia they do not know how to do anything properly, not even how to make a rope.” An accident of this sort usually resulted in a pardon, so a messenger was sent to the Czar to know his pleasure. Nicholas asked, “What did he say?” “Sire, he said that in Russia they do not even know how to make a rope properly.” “Well, let the contrary be proved,” said the Czar. Kondraty’s tongue denied him of providential pardon.
The tongue has brought more calamities to man than any other. This is why Apostle James counsels believers in the text today on the need to have proper control over the use of the tongue. He teaches that the tongue shows the true state of the heart. Unregenerate hearts cannot use the tongue aright, just as it is odd for the transformed heart to spill out unwholesome words with the tongue.
The devastating impact of an untamed tongue is better imagined than experienced. Many lives have been lost, marriages destroyed, friendships damaged, reputations ruined, wars fought, fights aroused, injuries inflicted, bodies maimed, promotions denied, etc., all due to wrong use of the tongue.
This is why the tongue will be one of the yardsticks for future judgment on the last day. No one can tame the tongue without supernatural grace and heart transformation. Our prayer daily should be like that of the psalmist, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Your tongue carries the power of life and death. Use it wisely!
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Genesis 24-25
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
