{"id":5767,"date":"2014-10-31T03:52:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T03:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5767"},"modified":"2014-11-04T04:49:12","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T04:49:12","slug":"james-126-worthless-unbridled-deception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5767","title":{"rendered":"James 1:26\u2014Worthless, unbridled deception"},"content":{"rendered":"

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man\u2019s religion is worthless.<\/em> James 1:26<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll bet no one ever said to this apostle, \u201cJames; tell us what you really<\/em> think.\u201d My guess is that if James were alive today, he would not be the most popular\u00a0preacher in town. Party invitations might be skimpy, as well.<\/p>\n

However, this baby brother of Jesus speaks straight into the heart of every believer and gives each of us a chance to reflect and make adjustments.<\/p>\n

If anyone thinks himself to be religious\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

I know\u2014we\u2019re in a relationship, not a religion; I agree. But in today\u2019s vernacular, James could have easily said, \u201cIf anyone thinks himself to be in relationship\u2026\u201d The Greek word for \u201creligious”, by the way, means \u201cfearing or worshipping God\u201d (see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2357&t=KJV<\/a> ), not the mere outward show of religion. Therefore, James is speaking to all of us who believe that we fear and worship God.<\/p>\n

\u2026and yet does not bridle his tongue\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember to whom James was writing\u2014blood-bought, righteous, cleansed-from-sin men and women of God, not the world. James boldly set the bar high for Christian conversation, and as much as you or I may want to wiggle that bar down a bit to suit our situations and \u201cdeep concerns\u201d, this bar was fixed in place back then and remains just as immovable today. Ouch.<\/p>\n

The standard James upheld was that you and I bridle our tongues. This issue burned in his heart; he wrote in depth about it later in his letter. However, including it in his section on temptation and trial, he revealed a key element to successful endurance while under any attack\u2014bridle your tongue.<\/p>\n

Notice that James placed the responsibility of tongue-bridling on\u00a0each individual. You and I are accountable before God for all of our words. Good news, though, if you have a hard time bridling your tongue: Psalm 141:3 says,\u00a0\u201cSet a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.<\/em>\u201d This verse\u00a0has been\u00a0a true help for me when\u00a0I have been\u00a0tempted to speak out of turn; indeed, I have developed a\u00a0well-worn path to this verse in prayer.<\/p>\n

At key times when facing trials, I have bridled my tongue; I have also let my tongue do its own thing\u00a0a time or two\u00a0when under attack. I have kept track, and according to my documentation\u2014duly noted in conformity with the scientific method\u2014when encountering trials, the bridled tongue produces far better results.<\/p>\n

During those key attacks when I bridled my tongue\u2014whether concerning other people, health, finances, emotional turmoil, stress, or something else\u2014the trial didn\u2019t always resolve as quickly as I would have liked, but when it did<\/em> resolve, there was cleanness to the outcome. I walked away with gratefulness to God and wonder at His working. The memory of those trials\u2014when walked through with a bridled tongue\u2014produce joy and a great sense of victory.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I have walked through numerous other trials with my mouth flapping away. I’ve been angry, upset, disappointed, scared, hurt, and I\u00a0let others hear about it again and again; and even\u00a0if the trial resolved quickly, there\u00a0was a sense of loss, nonetheless. It\u2019s uncanny how this happens. Without fail,\u00a0when I let my mouth run\u2014even though God eventually comes through for me\u2014I feel the let down of my disobedience along the way…and it is so avoidable! My scientific experimentation with bridled and unbridled tongue during trials proves conclusively\u2014the bridled tongue is better!<\/p>\n

\u2026but deceives his own heart, this man\u2019s religion is worthless.<\/em><\/p>\n

James cuts no slack. When you allow your mouth to spew out unbridled words, take serious heed and put a stop to it. If you continue unchecked, you will deceive your own heart. This is a sober warning.<\/p>\n

Perhaps\u00a0most grievous\u00a0of all, however, is James\u2019 assessment concerning the religion (or relationship with Christ) of the\u00a0Christian who proceeds unrestrained\u00a0with unbridled speech. James writes this man\u2019s religion is worthless. <\/em>It is devastating to think that I could go through life as a professing Christian, and yet come to realize that due to my undisciplined speaking, it was all for naught.<\/p>\n

These are sobering words, but they are Truth. As I think about this verse, I am aware of areas in my life that I must shore up and allow the Lord to correct. I pray that you, as well, will\u00a0find the\u00a0help you need to\u00a0shore up\u00a0your words and your\u00a0walk\u00a0with\u00a0Him.\u00a0It’s His will that you\u00a0grow to be perfect and complete\u2014unblemished by your words\u2014and lacking in nothing.<\/p>\n

Let Him help you.<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man\u2019s religion is worthless. James 1:26 I\u2019ll bet no one ever said to this apostle, \u201cJames; tell us what you really think.\u201d My guess is that if James were alive today, he would not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5769,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767\/revisions\/5769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}