Day 6: Practicing Church
Daily Devotional
James 3:9-10
9 “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
In today’s passage, James is asking us as Christians to consider the way we use our tongues. The reason is, if there is one part of the body that gets us into trouble more than any other part it would be our mouths. That’s because with our tongues we have the ability to boast, lie, curse, criticize, complain, gossip, and the list can go on and on. But as Christians, James states this shouldn’t be the case because we also use the same tongue to praise our Lord and Father. Therefore, we need to make a choice. Are we going to use our tongues for God honoring purposes that praise, edify, and encourage others or will we use the tongue to tear down, divide, and deeply wound others? Research done by the University of Arizona showed an average person spoke about 16,000 words a day. To put that into perspective, that is 32 pages single spaced, which means everyday we speak enough words to fill a short book. Spend time to reflect and be mindful of the way you use your tongue throughout the day. Let’s choose to praise God by building up and edifying those around you in love.
Weekly Application
As followers of Christ, it’s important not just to hear and know the Word of God, but to put it into practice in our daily lives. Start your day by asking the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you each day. As you set your mind on the things that the Holy Spirit wants, He will show you opportunities to put your faith into action. Live out your faith with at least one person each day this week by serving them and loving them as the Holy Spirit leads. You may be led to offer a listening ear to someone who is going through a tough season or to give a portion of your time or resources to someone in need. Have high expectations of what God can do, and ask Him to guide you each step of the way.