Matthew Henry lived long before the days of social media. However, in his commentary on James, he shares the following words of wisdom that apply to our day as much as to his, including our interactions with others on social media. The text in view is James 1:26: "If anyone among you thinks* he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless" (NKJV). Henry wrote,
“The man who has a detracting tongue cannot have a truly humble gracious heart. He who delights to injure his neighbor in vain pretends to love God; therefore a reviling tongue will prove a man a hypocrite … This has ever been a leading sin with hypocrites, that the more ambitious they have been to seem well themselves the more free they have been in censuring and running down others; and there is such a quick intercourse between the tongue and the heart that the one may be known by the other.”
Our words reveal what is in our hearts. May God have mercy on us all.
*The word translated "thinks" in the NKJV is δοκέω, which can also mean "seem." Hence the KJV: "If any man among you seem to be religious."
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