“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”1
Over the past several months, we have been walking through the book of James together as a church. James packs a punch. It’s impossible to read James and not have moments of conviction, realizing that we fall short of God’s standard for our lives. The last two weeks have been particularly convicting as we have focused on the sins of the tongue. The reality is that all of us are tempted to misuse our words. Think about the sins of the tongue: lying, gossip, slander, foul language, coarse joking, angry words, condemnation, belittling, making fun of others, and many other ways. The sins of the tongue are about as varied as you can imagine. Unlike some other sins, we can fall into the sins of speech without realizing what is happening. The ease that this occurs sometimes causes us to think that perhaps this sin isn’t so bad. How could something so easy be so wrong? This question reveals a deadly error of judgment. The sins of the tongue are one of the most destructive to families, churches, communities, and even nations. Some families are alienated because of the harsh words spoken within a house. Churches have been wrecked by gossip, causing division and sometimes the death of a church. Bitter lies and slander have torn communities apart. Individuals have been severely damaged by the words that were spoken to them in childhood. The enemy relishes the opportunities to cause strife with our careless, sinful words.
How do you use your words? Has the Lord brought conviction into your life about how you speak to others? One frustrating thing is that no amount of self-control or human will can cure this. James reminds us that we can’t tame the tongue in our human strength. However, thanks be to God that we don’t have to do this by human strength. Those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ have the power of the Holy Spirit within us that will give us the strength and ability to use our words for good. God has given us the ability to speak so that we can praise Him and share the great Hope we have in Jesus Christ. So, as you go to bed tonight, ask the Lord to show you how you did with your speech throughout the day, and when you wake tomorrow, ask the Lord to give you wisdom with how you speak. You can’t tame your tongue, but God can!
1The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 3:5–8.