A SMALL THING...BIG RESULTS

I can remember back to 1995 clearly when I was just becoming "known" by my husband. I was living in Columbus and after stubbing my toe really hard I shared with him how I was proud of myself for not "cussing." Since he didn't really know me very well at that point and a lot was riding on his belief in me as a "woman of God," his reaction was one of obvious "fear." In my bragging about my "growth" as a Christian so as not to succumb to the temptation of using a cuss word, he obviously thought perhaps I had a "habit" unbecoming of a Christian. We discussed it then and settled the issue to "his" satisfaction.

I thought of this as I was recently confronted with a young man using a cuss word in front of me....something I hadn't heard in quite some time. I had just been reading from James 3:6 "The tongue spreads it's evil through the whole body. The tongue is set on fire by hell, and it starts a fire that influences all of life.......9-We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself. Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. Do good and bad water flow from the same spring?"

Peter goes on to say: "Now that you are obedient children of God do not live as you did in the past. You did not understand, so you did the evil things you wanted.....You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way, a way passed down from the people who lived before you........So then, rid yourselves of all evil, all lying, hypocrisy, jealousy, and evil speech. (1 Peter 1-2)"

These changes don't happen overnight....I'm ashamed to say that when my children were young there was time I said a great big "S___T" in front of especially my oldest daughter. When confronted on this unbecoming choice of words, I made the mistake of saying, "If you get as angry as I did, then you can say it too!" I probably wasn't truly Born Again at that point of my adult life. I was in the church and SHOULD have been an example of purity and holiness. I didn't really have a radical conversion until later after viewing the moving, "The Late, Great Planet Earth." That movie (which is also a book by Hal Lindsay) put "the fear of God" in me. Proverbs teaches that "the fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom!

Wisdom is the most important thing.......I pray we all grow in wisdom and understanding. Prov. 2 says..Search for it (wisdom) like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure. THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND RESPECT FOR THE LORD AND YOU WILL FIND THAT YOU KNOW GOD!"...........HE PROTECTS THOSE WHO ARE LOYAL TO HIM!" In these difficult times...shouldn't we hope and pray and long for HIS protection? I think so! By the way, these quotes are from my newest, favorite version of the Bible..The New Century Version.