Today's Devotional: The Upper Room Daily Devotion "Stop, Breathe, and Pray" for Wednesday, 8 April 2015 - Scripture: James 3:3 If we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to make it obey us, we control its whole body as well. 4 And think of a ship — although it is huge and is driven by strong winds, yet the pilot can steer it wherever he wants with just a small rudder. 5 So too the tongue is a tiny part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how a little fire sets a whole forest ablaze! 6 Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself. 7 For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures; 8 but the tongue no one can tame — it is an unstable and evil thing, full of death-dealing poison! 9 With it we bless Adonai, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God.[a] 10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing! Brothers, it isn’t right for things to be this way. 11 A spring doesn’t send both fresh and bitter water from the same opening, does it? 12 Can a fig tree yield olives, my brothers? or a grapevine, figs? Neither does salt water produce fresh.[Footnotes:
James 3:9 Genesis 1:26–27]
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.[James 3:5 (NIV)]Recently, in a phone conversation with my sister, idle chatter about one thing led to another, and before long our conversation was filled with snippy remarks and comments about other people. It seemed harmless, but later I noticed that my energy had been sapped.
I knew that gossiping was wrong so I called my sister and asked her forgiveness for letting the conversation become so negative. She confessed to feeling the same way. She reminded me that when we were children, we were taught to “stop, drop, and roll” if our clothes caught on fire and suggested that from now on we try something similar in our conversations. “Stop, breathe, and pray,” I said; and we shared a good laugh over the analogy. We agreed that we had let one careless comment ignite another until we were ablaze with self-righteous indignation.
Though we have done better, we still slip up and need to remind each other to stop and think about the direction our conversation is going. We understand that speaking negatively not only affects our relationship with God and others but also has a detrimental effect on our spirits. Though they may seem insignificant, unkind words can spark into a raging inferno. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the fire from starting in the first place?
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Still Learning
Today's devotion, “Stop, Breathe and Pray” may appear “light hearted” but I can assure you that the sin of gossip is no laughing matter. I struggle with gossip and judgment equally but had relegated gossip to nothing more than a bad habit. The difficulty is that gossip can seem so small in the grand scheme of things and that makes it dangerous. It’s important to remember that every word has the capacity to be life or death. We lie when we try to “justify” gossip by calling it “sharing” or “praying.”
Gossip is like a splinter that gets underneath the skin. It isn’t until the skin becomes irritated and inflamed that we look for the culprit. Like a tidbit of gossip the tiniest splinter has the potential to cause great pain infecting the body. In the case of the splinter relief comes when it is removed and the wound cleansed. Words, once spoken cannot be taken back. God is the only one that can remove the pain our careless words inflict. So why do we do gossip?
Let’s be honest, at some level gossip feels “good” that’s why we do it. It has a certain power attached to it because we “know” something that draws people in. But is that the kind of attention we want? Initially it feels good to “share” what we know, it’s empowering. A part of us wants to believe that we are building mutual camaraderie but think about it. No one really trusts someone who so easily shares or tears others apart.
Facebook, twitter and social media in general promote quick responses and I too have fallen into the “reactionary” mode. Pausing to think and pray before I speak has helped keep me aware of what I am saying and how I am saying it. But it is a struggle.
When I find myself “over sharing” I try to slow down and think about how it will be interpreted. Unconstrained conversations are dangerous and a surefire path to gossip. On the phone I keep conversations short and focused. I think of every call as a three-way conversation with me, the other person, and God.
When I hear myself saying things like, “we should pray for so and so because…” I need to stop right there. I may be heading down the gossip trail. I don’t want to justify or use prayer as a masquerade for gossip. That isn’t what God had in mind when he said we should “pray” for others.
Limiting time I spend with people who encourage gossip and finding things of interest to share with others, and encouraging them to do the same helps to curb gossip. Talking about the things God is doing in my life helps the “gossip” die down and eventually be eliminated.
There are no easy fixes but God gave each of us words we can use to lift and encourage one another. Whatever is right true and good, we can speak those things, and we will not fall into the trap of gossip.[Deanna Baird]
The Author: Deanna Baird (Michigan, USA)Thought for the Day: We honor God when—instead of gossiping—we stop, breathe, and pray.
Prayer: Gracious God, with your help, may our words be pleasant, sweet, and healing. Amen.
Prayer focus: Sisters
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