"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell." (James 3:6)

Arthur J. Snider, writing in the Chicago Daily News, said, "The average person can see a dot as small as eight-thousandths of an inch in diameter. But this is about 14,000 times larger than most known viruses. Yet these microbes are the cause of at least 500 human diseases, some of which are very serious and can even be fatal. One strain was responsible for what was probably the greatest pestilence civilization has ever experienced -- the flue epidemic of 1918-19. That scourge took more lives than all the years of World War I."

The Bible tells of another small thing that can inflict great harm. It's that "little member" known as the tongue and, unfortunately, there is no vaccine to bring its deadly effects under control. Only we ourselves can control its destructive nature. If we do not control our tongues, our religion is vain.