James 3:1-12
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 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.
Since we all stumble through life in Christ to varying degrees, we must be mindful of our words unleashed by our disobedient tongue. Who can always avoid tripping over our words with carnal lashings against others at times when overcome by anger or frustration? We all face the same problem and those of us who teach others sound doctrine have the added accountability of speaking truth and that in love. It is not only the soundness of our teaching in alignment with God’s word, but also the love that is considerate of the hearers in supportive and in corrective words. Like a horse guided by a bit and reigned in when straying from a straight path, we are to pull the reigns back to keep to the narrow road of grace and peace while speaking truth in love with strong resolve to keep us all on the path of righteousness and holiness (Colossians 1:28-29) in ministry to one another. We are also to steer the tongue as a ship rudder to aim the vessel out of stormy waters and avoid capsizing our lives with the tongue let loose from firm control in our spiritual hands. Remember that this little member of our body is a proud boaster and needs constant surveillance and attention to correct its incessant wagging in other directions driven by our natural fallen nature of sin still present in us all. The tongue is also a pyromaniac that looses sinful words and incites anger and destruction in others if not quenched in time. The fire that fuels our ungodly speech is from hell itself. How difficult it is to tame the wild tongue! We are called to bless God our Father and not to curse men and women created by Him in His image. We should be blessing and not cursing others as the exhortation reminds us of the truth here. We must allow refreshing fresh water and not bitter water to spring out of our mouths stirred up by our sometimes disobedient tongues. This is the direct lesson on controlling our speech and the results of letting our tongues wag out of control.
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