Last 5 Days
Watch Your Tongue
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. 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,[a] and set on fire by hell.[b] 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. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,[c] these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Continuing from the theme of speech which connects back to 1:19, 26 and 2:12, James highlights how powerful the impact of the tongue is. Though a small member, it has an influence that far exceeds its size by multiple folds. James used three analogies common to the people of His time to convince them of the danger of an uncontrolled tongue. He starts with the example of the bit and the horse (3:3), moves to the rudder and the ship (3:4), then turns to the spark and the forest (3:5-6).
The first two analogies express how a small tool (the bit and the rudder) has the ability to control the entire body (horse and the ship). Similarly if we are able to control our tongue, we will be able to control our body. If the tongue is uncontrollable, the whole life is set on the wrong path.
The third analogy compares the tongue to a small fire or spark in the midst of a great forest. It speaks of the devastation the tongue does to the community when remains unchecked. The tongue can damage at a distance. A man can ward off a blow with the hand, but the striker must be in his presence. However, a man can drop a malicious word, or repeat a scandalous and untrue story, about someone whom he does not even know or about someone who stays hundreds of miles away, and cause infinite harm.
The damage that the tongue can make is some times uncontrollable. Three things come not back - the spent arrow, the spoken word and the lost opportunity. There is nothing so impossible to kill as a rumour; there is nothing so impossible to obliterate as an idle and malignant story.
We are ever ready to remove visible sins like adultery and pornography in our lives, but when it comes to the sins produced by our tongue, like gossiping or badmouthing behind others’ back, we reckon it as a common daily affair. However, let a man, before he speaks, remember that once a word is spoken, it is gone from his control. In an era of social media, the impact of our thoughtless words can extend beyond our own shoreline to a vast reach. Therefore let us consider our words before we speak since words spoken cannot be retrieved, and we will most certainly answer for it.
Dear brothers and sisters, our words are powerful. When words are used correctly, it can make positive impacts in transforming lives. When wrongly used, it can bring hell on earth for others. Can I ask that you intentionally take time this week to do a tongue exercise - Be generous with your genuine praises to someone, affirm someone with your words of encouragement or compose a thank you speech to one you love deeply in your life. Go do it and see for yourself the impact of your words!
