James 1:26
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”
I have a friend whose wife and daughter train calves. Part of that training involves teaching their calves to come under submission to a bridle. These calves fight it with everything they have but they find when they quit fighting it they are rewarded with slack in the lead rope.
I think it is interesting that bridling our tongue is connected to deceiving our hearts. Much like these young calves who by nature instinctively fight the bridle, we have a sin nature that fights the taming of our tongues and anything else that God would want us to do. We have and are constantly deceived by our sin nature to believe that what God wants is not good for us. Just like these calves we fight against the “bridle” and think we know what is best. When the calves quit fighting the bridle, they find out that they are going to be rewarded with love and care.
When we submit to God’s “bridle” we find His yoke is easy (Matt. 11:30) and his burden is light. We find that His way is best and leads to peace and security.
Let’s not be accused of having a religion that is worthless. Instead let us submit to the words in Scripture and train ourselves daily to be godly.
Prayer: Father, let your word sink deep into my heart and guide the words that come from my mouth. Keep the enemy of my soul from deceiving me and leading in a way that leads to destruction. Walk with me today. You lead me. I trust You. Amen