Everyone who reads Revelations has a unique interpretation, so I won’t add mine. But this ugly guy shows only one of seven heads from Revelations 12:3's Satan. We all agree his tongue is a raging fire.Today’s fire-eating dragons look different, but they ruin their surroundings just as quickly.
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And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
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Isn’t it sad the way the Lord sugar coats everything? I felt His voice leaping off the page in James 3:12. We need not wonder what He means.
And, before I continue, I confess to times my mouth engages before my brain and something comes out that spoils my day. How could I say that?
So who is today’s fire-spewing dragon?
A sweet elderly lady sidles over beside you. She appeals for prayer for Rod and Sarah, “They’re thinking about divorce, you know.”
In government offices, no one gains access to sensitive information without “The Need to Know.” You need information to perform your work. So you go to the person in charge. After filling out papers, if that individual believes the information vital, you will see it. It’s understood you won’t share it.
They wouldn’t clear me to hear about Rod and Sarah. I didn’t know. And I don’t need to know. (Rod and Sarah: Not their real names).
A group of women sit around a table drinking coffee and discussing the behavior of the woman who didn’t come. It’s never “I so admire Caroline.” It’s “did you hear what Caroline did?” My mother went to such a group once or twice. She needed friends, not critics.
Today’s dragons verbally abuse spouses. Or their children. The well-dressed child, alias Judy, makes perfect grades—though never good enough. She brings her friends to her perfect home. The mother provides cookies and milk. But the child feels broken inside, full of self-loathing.
No one understands why Judy becomes belligerent in her teens. Her parents get a call from the hospital—drug overdose. She had everything. What happened?
The best teens show eye-rolling boredom at parents. It doesn’t mean you’ll get the call from the hospital. But how often do you say “well done?” At that age you may have trouble findng "well done" but there has to be something.
The dragon becomes a politician. Adolph Hitler swayed Germany with his speech until he convinced the populace that they must annihilate an entire group of people.
They’re schoolyard bullies going after a disabled or ethnically different child. They can drive a vulnerable child to suicide.
I saw an autistic child who can’t speak, talking in his own language. Another child came along and made fun of the speech. He jabbered back. The autistic boy didn’t take offense. But I did. I let it go. If the autistic child wasn't upset, I didn't want to upset him.
Children need to understand differences. I read an article in which a young baseball team let a disabled boy play with them and then gave up the win so the child could make a home run. He never forgot his triumph. He died the following summer. Children can learn to respect others.
God spoke the world into existence. Let’s not speak it into destruction.
Dear Lord, please teach me to hear what I say before I say it. Let me be gracious.
Image from Clipart Library: No Artist listed
