Our Untamable Tongues

James 3:7-12 

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

How wildly feral the tongue is!  We can tame the most vicious beast, but are quite unable to consistently subject our tongues to the cage of control by godliness and good sense.  We speak evil while attempting to do good, for our old nature is a persistent threat to our sanctification.  We should be blessing both God and our fellow man, yet end up hurting the ones made in His image with our words, both cursing and blessing with the same tongue.  As James says here, these things should not be this way!  Our fountain should be His Spirit coming out of what we say and do (John 7:38), not bitter and poisonous water alternating with clear refreshing springs.  Our fruit should be good and the kind expected from God’s work in us, but often the tongue turns out the wrong fruit that does not fit us as His children nor what is expected for the good of others.  We should be ever more consistently yielding fresh water that satisfies God and His creation.