Daily Devotional for January 25, 2022
Words as Weapons
“Meet my new chameleon,” said Naveen, pointing to the chameleon’s terrarium home. “I caught bugs for him.” Naveen dropped a few into the container.
Naveen’s friend Grant watched. “Hey!” Grant exclaimed after a few minutes. “Where did those bugs go? One minute I saw them, and the next…they’re gone!”
“He ate them,” said Naveen.
“No, he didn’t,” Grant replied. “I was watching him.”
“Yeah,” said Naveen, “but a chameleon’s tongue is fast. It’s longer than its body and fast as lightning.” He grinned as his dad entered the room. “Right, Dad?”
Dad nodded. “Photographers use slow motion cameras to learn chameleons’ eating habits,” he said. “The tongue is shaped like a tube, and it’s sticky on the end. It’s like a weapon that can easily whip out and capture its prey.”
“Wow,” said Grant. “Sounds pretty dangerous for bugs!”
“Yeah,” Naveen said. “One minute they’re walking along thinking everything is fine, and then, BAM! They’re lunch meat.”
“You know,” said Dad, “the Bible says our tongues are like that too.”
“No way!” Grant said. “We can’t flick our tongues and eat something half a room away from us.” He grinned. “Though when I see candy sitting on Mrs. Davidson’s desk during quiet reading time, I wish I could!”
Dad chuckled. “What I meant was that our tongues can also be dangerous and need to be kept under control. We can lash out at others with angry, hurtful words as fast as a chameleon can flick its tongue at a bug. But as Christians, our tongues shouldn’t be used as weapons. Because we trust in Jesus, He has changed our hearts and filled us with His love. Our words should reflect that. The Bible says we shouldn’t praise God and say kind, encouraging things one minute and then attack someone with our words the next. That doesn’t fit with who Jesus has called us to be. We need to control our words and use them to point others to Him, not whip them at others like weapons.”
Naveen peered into the terrarium. “I may not be able to see my chameleon’s tongue attack its prey,” he said. “But he’ll help me remember I can keep my own tongue under control.”
-Lucinda J. Rollings
How about you?
Is your tongue out of control? Do you use it like a weapon and say unkind things? What you say can hurt others—sometimes for a long time. But if you trust in Jesus, you can control your tongue because He has filled you with His love. Use your words to communicate the wonderful things He has done for you and the love He has for each person.
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