Hi Reader,

I'm slowly reading a book I started at the beginning of this year.

And when I say slow, I mean slow - 1 page per day.

And some days I don't read it at all.

It's not a novel or a book with a single topic.

Rather, it's a book with passages from the New Testament and quotes from stoic philosophers. Each brief section of the book shows similarities between what the philosophers said and what the Bible says.

The section I'm on now is about the words we say.

While reading the book a few days ago, I came upon the verse below--from the Book of James in the Bible:

I'm pasting it here using my favorite Bible translation:

The book I'm reading uses the King James Version for the Bible passages. So I'm pasting this same verse now in that version. The words I bolded really stood out to me:

James writes about this again a couple chapters later (in James chapter 3), when he mentions bridling the whole body, as well as the bit that goes into a horse's mouth.🐴

Together, these passages remind us that a small bit and bridle can guide and control a whole horse.

Side note: are you interested in working on memorizing Bible verses? If so, you might want to check out this free Bible verse memory challenge.

So, the lesson for this weekend?

Control the things you say.

Or, better yet, ask and allow the Spirit of God to control the things you say.

Pause and re-read the sentence above.

James also writes, "A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame." (James 3:5b)

Do you want to risk igniting a big forest fire with a spark from your tongue?

So, this weekend, I encourage you to think about your words before you might say them. 🧠 🙏

Listen to the small voice inside you that reminds you to practice self-restraint.

Thanks for being part of my reader community.

John Christopher Frame​

p.s. Want help memorizing Bible verses? There’s something from author Kimberley Payne I'm sharing here. We’re each sharing one of our free resources with each other’s readers. Her free Bible Memory Made Easy Challenge can help you memorize 4 Bible verses over 4 weeks in a practical, doable way to help renew your mind and strengthen your faith. Here’s the link to get started: https://www.kimberleypayne.com/free-bible-memory-challenge.

If a friend or family member forwarded this email to you, and you'd like to receive my emails, too, just click this link and add your email address: https://www.johnchristopherframe.com/get-johns-emails​

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