You can feel James wrestling with the reality of our speech, which reflects our divided hearts. Our words flow out of our hearts, and our hearts bounce back and forth -- we don't know how to perfectly pursue God, and so our idols get in the way. We make time to pray and pursue God, but so often we're pursuing our own kingdoms, our own treasures, and when that pursuit is interrupted, we become angry or defensive or deceitful, doing whatever we can to build ourselves up, to try and save ourselves, when in reality, Christ is the only one who can save us, and Christ does so freely, without condition, inviting us to turn to God in praise and thanksgiving.
May we pay attention to the words we use, to the way we use them, to the way we speak to those that are around us. We can be so careless with our words -- let us attend to them, for they can build one another up or tear one another down. It is our choice, I simply pray that we are mindful enough to choose wisely, to choose with intention, that we may love with our words as well as deeds.
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