These are devotionals written by Kristin Swinford from 2000-2001.
Thoughts on Unity
One accomplishment of God that has never ceased to amaze me is how He can unify people from all walks of life and denominations. Not only does God bring us together into His Kingdom, but He asks us to work at maintaining that unity with peace and love. Ephesians 4:2-6 says, “Be completely humble and gentle, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all.” How then can we bring other into the family of God if we cannot always work together with each other, showing the unselfish love of Christ? It’s important to remember that we do not stand alone in our pursuit of leading others to Christ, but we are unified through Him and by Him in that pursuit…and what an unstoppable team that would be if we allowed nothing to divide us.
Love, Kristin
The Taming of the Tongue
We’ve all heard the saying “Think before you speak”, but how often do we really make an effort to monitor every word we say? How many times do we let comments oozing with sarcasm get past our lips? How often have we criticized or made snide remarks about someone, or even to their face without thinking? How many times have we told those “little white lies” that don’t really seem to matter anyway? And most importantly, what does God have to say about all this careless verbiage?
Proverbs 6 lists seven things that God detests. They are: “Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” After reading this, I found it interesting that out of these listed things that God detests, three of them involve the use of the tongue. It kind of puts things into perspective to know that the smallest “harmless” lie, saying something false or negative about someone else or even the slightest bit of sarcasm that leads us into an argument, God detests such kind of behaviour. Now think about something that you detest. That’s a much stronger feeling than simply not liking something, and if God says He detests something, we should really take it seriously.
James 3:5-7 says, “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider that 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 person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” This shows us what a weapon our own tongue can be. Think how often someone else’s words have pierced your own heart or hurt your feelings.
James makes a shattering point starting in verse 9 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.” What a valid point that is. We let the most adoring praises escape our mouths when in church, praying, or worshipping God. Yet with that same tongue, we criticize, judge, blame, and accuse others. How that double standard must hurt God. The Lord asks us to be patient and gentle with one another. He commands us not only to be pure in our lives and conduct but in our speech as well.
We read in Ephesians 4:29-32 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen… Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” For me, those verses alone are more than enough motivation for controlling every word I let pass my lips. It certainly gives a greater meaning to even a simple concept like “think before you speak”.
