What's that you said?

This past week I was in Boston, MA to finally meet some new co-workers. Four of us are remote engineers who live in different parts of the country and have worked together for quite some time so it was also nice to see familiar faces again.
Once we all got together some people would talk quite "worldly" which makes me uncomfortable. What I mean by "worldly" is cussing. One co-worker, more than the others, added some "worldly" words into almost every sentence. Each cuss word would make me cringe a little more each time but when this person said something about his church I almost fell out of my chair. All I could do was pray for this person and the people around us that this would not cause anyone to turn from GOD because of his example.

I began to wonder how many Christians act this same way?
Do I have a behaviour that could cause others to turn away from GOD or cause another christian to struggle with their faith?

We as Christians are held to a higher standard. Every action we take is being watched.
Do you have a christian symbol on the back of your car? Are you driving in a manner that is pleasing to GOD or are you speeding, cutting people off in traffic, running red lights, taking someones parking space, parking where you know you shouldn't or using inappropriate hand gestures? Think about this for a minute. I know is sounds silly but what kind of example are you demonstrating for those around you?

I was about to put something on my truck when my wife reminded me that everyone behind you will see this. I had to think about this before I stuck this on my truck. It's Florida and from my observations there technically aren't many rules of the road. Florida's 55mph = 70-80mph, turn signal levers are removed from vehicles when they enter the state or the turn signal lever is locked in the right or left turn position, right turn from the left lane and left turn from the right lane also seem to be acceptable. Stopping in the middle of a busy road because you missed your turn and turning your signal on and waiting for traffic to go around you so you can back up to make your turn, must not be another place in the road to turn around. When a little rain starts to fall emergency flashers come on and cars doing this fill all the lanes next to one another and they all slow way down and block the road.
You may be chuckling as you read this but these are things we witness on a daily basis, it's scary to drive down here. LORD are these tests???

Every action and word we speak is being scrutinized by someone. It may be the cashier at the grocery store, could be a co-worker you have been trying to win to the LORD. Our actions and words are especially scrutinized by our children. Children are sponges and will absorb everything we say and do, how we treat people, how we treat each other in our home, what we watch on TV, music we listen to at home and in the car, our body language and our excuses to get out of things we don't really want to do.

In the bible there are 140 references to the tongue.
The book of James has six references to this subject. Below I have highlighted in red what the consequences of not controlling the tongue are.

James 1:26If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

James 3:1[ Taming the Tongue ] Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,
because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

James 3:5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

James 3:6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by
hell.

James 3:8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James 3:9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. v10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

As you can see there are serious consequences to not controlling our tongue especially if you are in a leadership role. Do you want your religion to be worthless or your body to be corrupt? I sure don't and I pray that you don't either.

My prayer today:
HEAVENLY FATHER, I pray that you will help each and every one of us to control our tongues and our actions as we realize that everything we do and say is being scrutinized by someone. Please give us the strength and knowledge to control our actions and speech with each and every person we come into contact with. Thank you for the gift of speech and the power it has to spread YOUR word.
Please keep us safe as we drive in Florida.
Amen