Good Words from God, September 16 Worship

 O, the power of words. From the mouth of Jesus words change lives in dramatic ways. Despite our best efforts our words can fall short of what we hoped for. In our second lesson today James issues a lament that the same tongue that praises God can be the source of so much mischief and evil.  Luther reminds us that the eighth commandment calls upon us to put the best construction on all things, yet too often we speak evil where we should speak good, or speak when we should remain quiet.  Our out-of-control tongues are magnified in the damage they do through social networking media, the relative anonymity of the Internet, and the great temptation to press "send" before reconsidering what we have said. Today we can pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us to good words that encourage and uplift.  By getting to know the character and personality of Jesus our words will be guided by the Eternal Word of God, forever good and righteous. 

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