THE POWER OF THE TONGUE
Opening Prayer
Father, your Word is a lamp that guides me and a light on my path. Please use it today to help me follow you.
Read JAMES 3:1–12
Taming the Tongue
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!’ (Psalm 147:1).With eight intertwining muscles and over 2,000 taste buds, the tongue is the only muscle working independently from our skeleton. Its appearance provides clues about our health. As James clearly elucidates, our tongue also reflects our spiritual health, being a force for good or evil.
I wonder how often you regret something you’ve said and wish you could retract a comment, or email, or gossip, from the coffee room. Perhaps you’ve been the recipient of harmful innuendo or back-stabbing stories, or been tempted through the impure speech of another.
The tongue is powerful. Metaphors of a horse’s bit (v. 3) or a ship’s rudder (v. 4) illustrate how one small mistake with our tongue can change the direction of another’s life. Whereas we have initial control over what we say, once it’s left our mouth, the damage becomes uncontrollable, like a forest fire set alight from a tiny spark (vv. 5, 6).
What comes from our mouth reflects our inner life, the place where we seek to nurture holy lives in the image of Christ. Yet it’s easy to bless others in one moment, then cause untold harm in the next (vv. 9, 10). We all make mistakes (v. 2), but let’s take the rudder, hold firm against worldly winds, and steer the course of blessing and praise.
Apply
‘Train’ your tongue by raising your voice to praise God or read a favorite verse out loud.
Closing prayer
Lord God, thank you for the gift of language. Please help me use my words to encourage others to see and praise you.
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