By, Autumn Devine
Our church is a body of members. We all have a role that best fits where God wants us to serve in the church body. Those sweet elder ladies who love to give, whether it's giving out a mint candy before the service, or a meal to someone whose been sick... I imagine those ladies are the hands. The feet could be the men who faithfully go to visitation each week and invite people to next Sundays service. The arms could be the ladies who serve in nursery and keep a hold of the little ones while their parents can sit in the service and hear God's Word. The ears could be the sound booth guys who keep the microphones and livestreams working smoothly. We all have a different role in the church, but the one body part that I really don't want to be is...the tongue.
"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.
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:
but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil,
full of deadly poison."
James 3:6-8
Gossip happens in every church. So yes, every church body has a tongue. Because every church body consists of sinners. But the gossip can stop at me and you, we dont have to be the tongue. We don't have to keep the gossip going. We can help control the tongue. And I know what you're thinking, "..but it's not gossip when I'm just talking things out with my closest friends or family" or "I'm just venting"...I know, I've thought those things too. It's so easy to get caught up in wanting to hear gossip and 'spilling the tea'. But God calls it a deadly poison. Would you drink a cup of tea if you knew it was poisonous? We need to respond that way to gossip. It does absolutely no good for our hearts, and it can destroy the church body.
”Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue
Keepeth his soul from troubles."
Proverbs 21:23
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue:
And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."
Proverbs 18:21
If we want to serve in a church body that is pleasing to the Lord, then we have to do our part and control the tongue.
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