Thursday, April 03, 2008

The Tongue is a Fire

James 3:6-12
"And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water."
I find it interesting how people consider themselves to be generally Good People, and when you take them through the 10 commandments a great deal of them justify their acts and still end up thinking they are good people. But the moment they see you act a certain way, for example you hate lying and by the Holy Spirit try to tell the truth at all moments and generally do not purposely lie. One of these "Good People" find out that you do that, they get altered immediately become hostile and then comes the name calling. Now you are a pharisee, a legalist.
My question or questions is/are:
1. If you are a good person, why does it bother you when someone (a Christian for this example's sake) tries to do the right thing in a given situation?
2. If you truly are a good person, why then is it necessary for you to lie, steal, cheat, lust, etc?

I'm going to have to conduct a survey on this, it would be interesting to see how people respond. I think the term is Double Standard. In any case, its interesting.

3 comments:

Barbara Marr said...

Rita,
Thank you for leaving a comment at my marr-haven blog. I found your old blog, then Penny (she is so sweet) and now your latest post. I admire your young, vibrant energy.

My husband receives a daily devotional email each morning from turningpointonline.org You might be interested in it.
Barbara Marr
www.marrrhaven.com

Bryan Riley said...

Jeremiah 17 comes to mind.

Moon said...

Spot on Bryan!
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
"I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." Jer 17:5-10

And still Jesus Christ died for wicked sinners like us! Thank you Lord!!!