The familiar children’s poem “Sticks and Stones” is catchy and cute, but the phrase in the poem “words will never break me” is just not true. Words are powerful, even destructive. As we continue in our series today in the book of James, we will see that the tongue is compared to a fire that can set forests ablaze. So if you struggle, like many of us, with your words, join us. We will discover tools to help tame the tongue, because friends, our speech reflects the spiritual condition of our hearts.

In high school before first period began, my friends and I would meet at a local church to play pick-up basketball with some “old guys." Our attitude about these guys and their basketball skills was wrong, and let’s just say us young guys got schooled. Isn’t this what we tend to do as humans? We often judge people based on external factors like appearance, dress, and color. As we continue our study in the book of James, we will look back at how judging others caused friction in the early church and look forward to how we as followers of Jesus can love, not judge.