Bridles Are Not Just For Horses

[329 words] In the traditional sense, riders use a bridle to direct their horse where they want it to go. They use this small but effective tool to control a powerful, 1000-pound animal with ease. James compares it to the influence we wield with the tongue, one of our smallest muscles: “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things” (James 3:3,5 ESV). The world overflows with chatter. Sadly, much of it contains meaningless words that will never bear fruit for God’s Kingdom. Let’s look at some numbers: Every single day, humans send more than 276 billion Facebook posts, tweets, texts, and emails. That amounts to 34 messages for every man, woman, and child—eight billion people—on Earth. And that doesn’t include phone calls, dozens…