Time Is of the Essence

  Watch your mouth. Your parents may have said that at key moments in your youth when you ventured to utter the unutterable. The old pastor in the early church said it and his admonition is enshrined in in an epistle by his name, the Book of James. Guard your tongue, bridle it, and be careful about the words that come forth from your mouth. They can do a lot of good; they can do a lot of harm. They are predictors of success and they are revealers of the heart. Watch your mouth and bridle your tongue. Think before you speak. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — James 3:1–12 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it tak...