When You've Said Something You Wish You Could Take Back

We can all name a moment we wish we could take back. Discover why James compares the tongue to a spark, and how to go repair the damage even long after the words were said.Most of us can name the moment. The sentence you fired off in an email before you cooled down. The remark about somebody that got repeated and spread further than you ever meant it to. You would give a lot to reach back and pull those words out of the air, but you cannot. That is the trouble with words. Once they are out, they keep going without you.This episode opens with a phone call. Tonya answered to hear a voice she had not heard in more than 20 years, a woman named Jen she had sung with in high school chorale. Jen was not calling to catch up. She had been diagnosed with ALS, and she was spending some of the time she had left reaching out to people she had wronged. She went straight to a day in high school when she had said something cruel to Tonya, and she asked to be forgiven, terrified of what she would hear.James understood the power of a word. James 3:5-6 says the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches, and that a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. A word is small and quick, easy to flick out without thinking. But James watched what a spark does to a dry forest and said the tongue is like that. One sentence can burn through a friendship or a reputation, and keep burning long after you have forgotten you struck the match.Here is the part we cannot dodge. Words do damage that words alone cannot fix. You cannot simply say sorry and make the fire never have happened. The forest is still burned. But the story does not have to end there. You can go to the person you hurt, tell them the truth about what you said without excuses, and let the repair begin. It will not erase the fire, but it can start something new growing in the ashes. And you do not go alone. God goes with you into that conversation, because making it right is exactly the kind of thing He gives grace for.Bart knows this one from the pastor's chair. More than once he has said something, from up front or in a meeting, that came out wrong and stung someone, and he has had to go find that person afterward and own it plainly. It is humbling every time, and it is always better than pretending he never said it.BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:Why words can keep doing damage long after you have forgotten you said themWhat James 3:5-6 reveals about the small spark that starts a great fireHow to go repair the harm your words caused, and why God meets you when you doWords can start a fire you cannot put out on your own. You can still go make it right, and God goes with you when you do.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/293Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.