TUESDAY - September 29

Each day say our two theme verses. To help you do this, download our smartphone and tablet wallpaper: https://www.decaturumc.com/sermons/the-power-of-words. 

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Read. James 1:19-21
19 Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry.20 This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.

Reflect. James, Jesus’ half-brother, apparently became a Christ-follower when Jesus appeared to him after the resurrection (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:7). He became an influential leader in the early church. In this short letter, he linked hasty, angry speech with “moral filth.” To James, a cutting outburst was no small matter, but something hurtful and wrong. 

• Early Christians faced social exclusion and legal persecution. (The historian Josephus said James himself was stoned to death in Jerusalem about 62 A.D.) It must have been tempting and easy for Christians in those conditions to rage against people who treated them so unjustly. How does James 1:19-20 speak to us, who face much milder tests of our faith and temper, when we find ourselves becoming angry and eager to denounce some person or organization?
• Scholar David Allan Hubbard wrote, “Harsh, vindictive speech—even though apparently based on God’s Word—is not the way to accomplish God’s justice.” Through the centuries, issues like circumcision, slavery, the role of women in ministry, and (today) homosexuality have triggered such speech from Christians against other Christians. How can the “humility” of which James wrote move us away from destructive speech and toward living into what James called “the word planted deep inside you”? 

Pray. O God, make me ever more “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry.” You know that’s not my natural condition, Lord—but I know you can change me from the inside out. Amen. 

COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST

Doug Lawson. Bobby Roberts. Collier. Glenn Ethridge. Adam Funderburk.  Mary Reber.  Linda Harmon. Betty Carolyn Ward. Jeff. Albert Rasanke. Lois Robinson. Ross Henley. Tiny & Donald Creasman. Bill and Barbara Buchanan. Bonnie Brenner. Baker Family. Robert McKenzie Family. Kibler family. Carolyn Harlow. Jeff Green. Earl Graves. Mickey Huff. Huff & Welch families. Helen Leigh. Paul Huffman. Schools, Teachers, Staff, Parents, Students. Church regathering plans. Layman family. Charlene Withrow. Brandon Casteel. Dirk Orr family. Smith family. Crowder family. Lillard family. Family of Floyd Eaton. Family of Eddie Rynes. Robertson Family. Harmon Family.

Acknowledgement:
Our current teaching series, The Power of Words, was adapted from a series developed by our partners at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and used with permission. Many of the resources and graphics are provided by our partners. During this series, our Read.Reflect.Pray guide publishes the daily devotional guide (called Grow, Pray, Study) from our partners with minor adaptation.