James 3:1-12.
There's a similar scene in at least two movies (A Christmas Story and Dumb & Dumber) where it's wintertime and a character decides to lick a frozen metal pole. Can't you just picture Jeff Daniels' character, "Harry", riding up the chair-lift at the ski slope, looking over at the pole and immediately deciding to lick it? No hesitation, no filter, just *BAM* and he's stuck.
James continues this week with more practical teaching, and nothing's more practical than NOT following that compulsion to lick the ice on the pole. James talks about what's on the line when we don't control our mouths. Just like Harry on the ski-lift, letting loose with our tongues affects our whole selves and those around us. Why? Maybe because the mouth, our words, are sometimes the first and sometimes the easiest way for us to be in action.
Think about it, ya don't have to break a sweat, you don't have to get off the couch, to use your tongue - for good or for evil. So once again as James teaches on having a faith that overflows into action, we see how vital our speech is - it's a primary place for us to act, but it may also be the thing we treat most carelessly.
