YAG I: Book of James – Sng Wan Ying
Learning to Bridle the Tongue
As we started learning from the Book of James in the second half of 2023, we discovered there are many aspects of life that it covers and it teaches multiple and right perspectives of having a practical Christian conduct. There were many challenging lessons to fully practise in my life.
One of the lessons that stood out was James 1:26 about bridling the tongue. I had learnt this lesson a few years ago and now, learning it again has helped me to crystalise and check myself to see if I had been able to practise it in my life.
It was a good opportunity to check if I could be beguiled to think that as the number of years of being a Christian increases, I would naturally show an improvement in bridling my tongue. In the lesson, we were taught that the root cause of why a person is not able to bridle the tongue is having no self-control and what we say is a reflection of what we are inside. It is easy to say what I want in the moment, to give into the flesh. But through experiences, I have learnt that words can hurt others and some things that were said can really hurt the relationships I have with others and vice versa.
I have sought to learn control my tongue by thinking about my words such that they would show grace. Even if others are not kind with their words, I have learnt to not be immediately reactive and turn to the Lord for help first.
As I move on to YAGII, I am looking forward to studying further perspectives of faith in the Book of James.