Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-05-16
BRIDLING THE TONGUE.

If any man among you seems to be relig-
ious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth
his own heart, this mans religion is vain
JAMES /: 26.
We find everywhere in holy writ con-
formations of insincerity in religion. Christ
rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their
Hypocrisy, declaring that it would be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of Judgment than for them. An unbeiev-
er or an infdel is everywhere spoken of as a
better man than he who processes, but does
not practice, religion. There is some excuse
for both donbters and unbelievers, but none
whatever for people who claim to know the
will of deity, but do not obey it.
Much reproach is brought upon Christian
ity by people who have no control over
their tongues. It seems to be an in6rmity
with some. Others appear to take delight in
giving free rein to their tongues and
make religion, their neighbors and all things,
in nature and art the subjects of ridicule or
reproach. Self-control should be the first
of the Christian graces; yet it seems to be
seldom thought of by those who profess re-
l1gion. Many learn to keep their appetites
and passions under check, yet seem to forget
that as great harm can be done by an I'M
bridled tongue as by absolute license to out
ward conduct. Quarrelsomeness is one of
the crying evils of the church. If the mem
bers are not maligning each other or their
pastor, they are saying hard things of those
who do not belong to their organization.
The sociable and the sewing circle are con-
venient media through which SANDER can be
widely disseminated. At these gatherings the
private characters of people are dissected
bit by bit, the scandalmongers apparently
taking as great delight in dis
covering faults as they should take
in discovering virtues. If any
one has inspired spirit of envy in tine bo-
som of some fair one, the tongue of gossip at
once takes up the case. Trivial faults are
aggravated to the dimensions of crimes, and
the absence of any conspicuous virtue is re-
garded as an evidence of the possession of
some hidden vice. If a person keeps his
own counsel the fact is taken as an indication
of pride, or fear that if he were to allow
himself to be familiar he would reveal his
true character, which is always presumed to
be bad.
There is another respect in which profess
ing Christians previously err. They are very
apt to distrust each others motives, and to
attribute the errors into which they fall to a
deliberate purpose to do wrong. The truth
is that few people entitled to claim respect
ability commit questionable act deliberate
Iy. They may be swayed by wrong impulses
unwittingly, but they do not appreciate the
fact that those impulses are
in themselves wrong. All men
cannot see the same object, be it
moral or material, in the same light, and
they should not be gagged by single in
fallible measure. We should give people
who differ from us on points of theology or
morals, credit for the same sincerity we
claim for ourselves, and judge of their acts
by the motives that prompted to them and
offense ignorantly or be drawn into its COM
mission from the purest of motives, and
though we may condemn the act We have
no right to impugn the motives that lead to
its commission. The best rule to follow in
all such matters is "Judge not that ye be not
Judged Leave to him who will be the
final arbiter of the conduct of all men the
task of looking into the heart and determin-
ing how far to blame his fallible creatures.
An unbridled tongue is the cause of great
misery. Many worthy pastor has been
brought into disgrace by the thoughtless
gossip of few of his pensioners. Many a
church has been dismembered by the SLAM
ders and backbiting of few chronic grum-
blers and fault-fnders, and the work of
religion has been greatly re-
tarded Friendships are every day broken
by careless or malicious word, characters
ruined, families disrupted, whole coumuni-
ties set by the ears. A trivial or scofing re-
mark upon sacred theme may give rise to
doubts, to unbelief, and to infdelity. Pro-
Tossing Christians cannot be too careful of
their language. SANDER is two-edged
sword, and may cut the one who uses it far
worse than it hurts the person against whom
it is directed. The man or the woman who
speaks i'll of his neighbor does not deserve
the title of Christian. Charity in all things,
more especially in Judging of the conduct of
others, is the chief of all Christian graces
We are enjoined to bear one another's bur-
dens, and to treat leniently the faults of those
who err. It is not necessary that there
should be failure to reprove when reproof
shall be necessary, but the reproof should
be administered to the offender, not set
afoat on the wings of SANDER. to be banded
about as a choice morsel by the
tongues of the professional gossips. Cir
cumspection, liberation, and above all
things charity and brotherly love should be
the principal characteristics of the Christian
life. He who does not possess these quail
ties has not the genuine religion that makes
people better and purer men and women.
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