The Danger Within

One of the greatest failures of the modern-day world of self-help, positive thinking, therapy, pop-psychology is the problem of misplaced blame. We can all point to harmful words, actions, and attitudes that have deeply wounded us. Most people have little difficulty finding people to blame for their hurts or sense of misfortune. Few people ever consider their own pattern or potential for harming others.

There are certainly injustices and wrongs inflicted or endured by all people, but this is only part of the problem. There is a greater evil we are all complicit in--one way or another. This evil is the result of our own words. There are definitely words we all wish we could have back; there are even words we wish we would have spoken. There are also words that have caused damage to an extent we likely do not even realize.

In the letter of James (3:1-12), we find a warning about the potential for cataclysmic destruction that can be sparked from an unbridled tongue. Loose lips really can sink ships.