I am a member of the Spring Creek Baptist Church, Chesterfield County, Virginia. I write articles for the church's newsletter ministry. I hope that you find the following article that I wrote inspiring.

                                          The Dilemma of the Tongue

This is an additional article about the bible study ministry at Spring Creek Baptist Church. Bible study is held every Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM at the sanctuary. Early arrivers can partake of the meal that is served at 6:00 p.m.

Perhaps this article should have been titled the "Power of the Tongue" because this is the title of the current bible study subject. However, it was learned during Pastor Micah’s teachings that the tongue can be either a strength or weakness. The tongue has the power to create either situation. Pastor Micah elaborated that people with a Christian heart can control their tongue or, what they say. Then the tongue is strength. He pointed out that our Christian beliefs and teachings discipline our hearts. In essence, a person evaluates what they are going to say before they say it. Their responses are in harmony with the Christian faith and do not cause disharmony. What if world leaders and politicians had such control of their tongues? There would be no global conflicts. Since the tongue is powerful, but causes both positive and negative things to occur, it is really a dilemma

Why should the tongue be blamed for what people do? The tongue is really one of the weakest muscles in the body but is given higher prestige than most other parts of the body. Pastor Micah taught the attendees that the tongue is representative of peoples’ feelings and attitudes about things. The tongue promotes the behavior and physical actions of people. Pastor Micah emphasized that a disciplined tongue is symbolic of a rider placing a bit in a horse’s mouth. Though a horse is more powerful than several humans, one man can control a horse with a bit. Brother Hayes commented that the tongue is the most critical because it does the most damage or good. He stated that we can praise with the tongue or berate with it. He concluded that powerful things come out of the mouth because of the tongue.

Pastor Micah stated that there are certain consequences of having an undisciplined tongue. He stressed that we as Christians should keep in mind that once we say inappropriate things, they cannot be retracted. Though we can apologize for inappropriate comments that come out of our mouths, the listeners may remember some things that we said. The listeners will remember these remarks and evaluate the character of the people who made them. The remarks could later hinder some people from achieving positions that require integrity.

Some human frailties that motivate an undisciplined tongue are jealousies, boastfulness, hate, dislike, and vanity. These are human feelings that we experience often during out lives, but we can control these feelings by adhering to our Christian faith. Negative feelings are self-destructive and can lead to people turning these feelings into negative actions. Undisciplined tongues have caused physical violence and death, therefore an undisciplined tongue is a very dangerous thing.

Pastor Micah intends to discuss the tongue at bible study for another quarter of the year because verses about the destructive nature of the tongue appear throughout the various chapters of the bible. It would enhance our Christian discipline to visit the bible study and learn more about the tongue, which has been the source of conflicts and problems for centuries. Pastor Micah made reference to James 3:6, which summarizes, "Like fire, the tongue’s sinful words can spread destruction rapidly or as its accompanying smoke. " "The tongue’s evil can extend beyond the individual to affect everything in his sphere of influence." Psalms 19:14, James 1:26, and Ephesians 4:29 are also relative chapters and verses that pertain to the power of the tongue.