Behold the noble samurai warrior. They were the members of the Japanese military class and used various weapons in combat ranging from bows, spears and their most famous weapon, the sword. The traditional samurai warrior lived his life according to the code of bushido which translates to the way of the warrior. The bushido code stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self-disclipline, ethical behavior and respectfulness which the samurai was expected to follow.

Now in modern times, you too can be a samurai, but the difference is that you fight with a weapon mightier than a samurai sword. Your weapon cuts deeper than swords and kills enemies even faster. Plus with the advent of modern technology, your weapon can cause more damage and wreak more havoc than a nuclear bomb, but in the midst of all of this possible destruction, your weapon can also heal and comfort others. The mighty weapon you possess is your tongue.

James 3:5 - Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

How many times have you said something out of anger to someone that you later regretted? By the time we get a chance to regret what we've said, the fire has already spread and you can usually expect a lot of backdraft from it. This not only applies to words spoken in anger, but also to words of gossip and any discouraging word. We've all been guilty of either spreading words that he said, she said, and they said, or we've played the part of the gossip audience. The problem is that we either don't take the time to think about how the person who we talk about will be affected or we just don't care. Now if you don't care about how someone else is affected by your tongue, you can't rightfully expect anyone else to care when your name is the one being dragged through the mud.

Proverbs 15:2 - The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright; but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

I think it's safe to say that everyone has come into contact with a child whether it was your own child, a neighbor's child or even just a child you saw at the grocery store. Now there's one big lesson you learned from your experience...kids are human tape recorders because they record EVERYTHING that comes out of your mouth and replay them when you least expect it. For that reason, we usually try to watch what we say around kids, but I don't think we should stop there. The average person might try to keep their words clean or stray away from damaging gossip when kids are listening, but what makes you think that other grown people don't replay your words with other adults as they share a laugh at your unknowing expense? "If you don't have anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all", and when you do say something mean, you can expect your words to travel at broadband speed. In a lot of instances, people find it easier to remember words spoken in anger or contempt than words spoken out of love or upliftment. With that in mind, I feel it's better for someone to forget the good words you say than to remember all the negative ones.

Proverbs 15:4 - A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

Now I've talked about the negative effects your tongue can play, but the positive effects are just as easy to see. The right word can make someone smile, it helps boost self-confidence, and even in the worst possible situations, the right word can bring about positive change. The bottom line is that we must treat the tongue as the weapon that it is so that we not only recognize its power, but so that we also maintain control of it.