Published July 31,  2022

by Andy Berges

 

Nearly everyone is familiar with the seven deadly sins.

Of the seven, pride is considered by most to be the deadliest and the primary source for the other six sins. It’s been said that it was through pride that the devil became the devil.

 

With pride topping the list, anger is not far behind. Many Americans who are humble struggle more with controlling their anger – myself included.

 

As Psalms 37:8 warns, “Refrain from anger, it leads only to evil.” If we don’t control our anger, the devil will use it as a foothold to inflict destruction and the deadly weapon that he utilizes is our tongue.

 

Although the tongue is one of the smallest organs of the human body it can be extremely lethal and in many instances throughout history it has been a weapon of mass destruction that has ignited numerous wars that led to the deaths of tens of millions.

 

James 3:5-6 mentions how we need to tame the tongue - “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

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Nobody is immune from getting angry. In fact, most of us experience some degree of anger on a daily basis. Whenever anger arises within us, we must tame our tongues and not be cruel towards others. Most do not do so and regret the toxic words that they had unleashed shortly afterwards. 

  

We are the only ones at the helm in regards to the direction our tongues are steered and it’s in our best interest to “watch your tongue” as we were constantly advised to do when children. The appropriate thing to do when angry is just zipper our lips and keep our tongues at bay. 

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As Proverbs 21:23 informs us, "Those who guard their tongues keep themselves from calamity."