Read James 1:26-27 this morning: “Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing. The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.”
Later this morning I read the first half of Leviticus 13 which is addressing the issue of a skin disease they called tzara’at, how it is supposed to be diagnosed as such and what to do after the fact. There is a note in my Complete Jewish Study Bible about how rabbinical sources emphasize a link between tzara’at and the sin of gossip “noting that the practice of gossip or slander opens the door for both spiritual and physical oppression and illness” (ex. Moses’ sister Miriam, who spoke against Moses, contracted tzara’at as a judgment against her until Moses prayed for her healing). It then references James 1:26 noting the importance tied to guarding one’s words.
This made me think of another verse that speaks to the negative physical manifestations that a heart or spiritual issue can bring: Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”