“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 the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” James 3:5‑6
My television remote has a mute button as does Zoom on my laptop; too bad that my tongue doesn’t have one that is attached to the small wisdom sector in my brain. There have been countless times when my tongue has launched words that should have been deleted or sent to the trash bin.
Heavenly Father, we are sinful human beings and quite often our tongues are way out of control. We have breached confidences that were meant to be held in trust. We have told several people of the offense we received but have failed to speak with the offender to make things right. Many of our family, friends and co-workers lack the courage to tell us to our face of our error, but You don't; You command us to get control of our tongues. We're rebuked by Your indictment: from our mouth come both blessing and cursing; these things ought not to be this way.
Lord, help us to remember that there's no decision more important than salvation. And on the heels of that, there's no decision more important than the decision to restore a relationship that has been fractured because of hurtful words. Forgive us for speaking before we knew the facts or before we earned the right to say what we've said. Forgive us for hurting a brother or a sister who wasn't even there to defend himself or herself. Hear our prayer today and vindicate us, Lord, for we, too, have been verbally assassinated and our integrity has been violated. And we ask You to fight our battles for us. Help us to mute our tongue when needed. We come to You today in faith in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.