“And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” James 3:6 NLT
James calls our tongues a flame of fire. How careful are you with your flame?
The Marshal fire is the most destructive fire in Colorado history. In Colorado, in the year 2021, we had an unusually wet spring with above-average growth of grasses due to the moist conditions. Following this was an unusually warm and dry summer and fall. This scenario created an abundance of dry grass. That fall and early winter, Colorado had very little snowfall. It created an ideal situation for wildfires. As such, a fire did break out on December 30, 2021, just a few days after Christmas, around 11 am. It was determined later that there were 2 ignition points – on one private property, where burning trash had not been adequately contained, and the other from a downed power line.
The first firefighting unit arrived on the scene at 11:12, just minutes after the fire had been reported. It was a small grass fire but due to high winds, the spread rapidly. Wind gusts of 115 miles per hour were reported. Three minutes later, it was determined to be of control and additional units were called to assist. At 11:44 am, the commander at the site ordered the evacuation of nearby residents. By noon, the fire had reached the town of Superior. By approximately 1 pm, an evacuation order went out that ordered tens of thousands of people to start evacuating Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, parts of Broomfield, Arvada, Westminster, and unincorpated Boulder County.
By 3 pm Governor Jared Polis had declared a state of emergency and ordered a ground delay of all flights at Denver International Airport. The fire burned on until January 1, when heavy snowfall finally put an end to it. Two people perished in the fire. Over 1,000 pets were killed. Over 37,500 residents, employees, and shoppers were evacuated. An estimated 1,084 structures burned, including houses, a hotel, and at least one shopping center. It is estimated that the damage surpassed $2 Billion dollars.
As evidenced by the Marshall Fire, a massive, deadly, and destructive fire can start with a very small spark, and grow out of control very quickly. This is true with our words too. The book of James warns us of the escalating, destructive nature of our words. And that like a fire, one simple statement, one simple negligent word, and next thing we know, we have lost verbal control and we’ve started a destructive, costly, hurtful verbal forest fire.
Don’t let your words burn. Guard your tongue carefully. What seasons your speech? Truth – at all cost? Grace or condemnation? Kindness or criticism? Hope or negativity? Humility of self-righteousness? Gentleness or abrasiveness? Are your words sweet and kind or harsh and angry?
Ephesians 4:29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need for the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you know how you should respond to each person.”