James 3:5 (NIV)
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but
it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a
small spark.
There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar
with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be a habitual gossip—she had
maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded.
The vicar said, “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of
goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When
she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said
the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather up every feather and bring
them all back to me.” After a long time the woman returned without a single
feather. “The wind has blown them all away,” she said. “My good woman,” said
the vicar, “so it is with gossip. Unkind words are easily dropped, but we can
never take them back again.”
Thought for today:
Do I speak in love?
No comments:
Post a Comment