Sterling Griggs

Yesterday I had the privilege of preaching James 3:1-12 at my church. Yesterday I also faced the dread of preaching James 3:-12 at my church. Why the dread? Because this passage of Scripture addresses the power of the tongue, i.e. of the words that we use, and just how destructive they can be. As someone whose words have gotten him into hot water time and time again, I felt like I was speaking into a mirror the entire time, hearing words that I desperately needed to hear but so badly wanted to avoid. Take a minute to recall some contentious conversations you may have recently had. Did you get angry and lose your temper, resulting in harsh words and a louder than healthy volume? Or are you the master of the art of sarcasm, cutting into others with your cruel wit and venom? How about gossip? Have you spent a lot of time recently criticizing others, knocking their worth and value down a few pegs? I could go on, but I think that you get the idea. We ALL struggle with the words that w...

As soon as the words left my lips, I knew that what I had uttered was not true. I was trying to make a point about what it meant to be responsible for our own actions, but what came out didn't exactly match up with the truth I was trying to convey. What I had said was along the lines of, "God only helps those who can help themselves," and I'm sure that I had crossed far more egregious lines with my words before in a more private setting, but this time I was far from being in a one-on-one conversation with a patient friend. I was preaching a message from the Bible in front of the people of my church. Now let me set the stage a little bit better for you. At the time that I spoke these poorly chosen words, I was in my young 20's and serving as a youth director at a small church on the outskirts of an even smaller town. It was my first solo church gig. The pastor there was a really awesome guy who, in the few months that we served together, took me under his wing a...