Good morning,

James 3:1-18, “But no man can tame the tongue…”

Ever said something you wish you did not say? or said something you wish you could take back? Said something that was taken out of context? or people misunderstood what you said?. There is power in the little thing in our bodies called the tongue. The tongue has landed so many people into trouble. As much as what people do can destroy, what people say can do even a greater damage and it’s because what has been done can quickly heal unlike what has been said stays in the memory. Friendships have been broken due to what came out of the tongue. Husbands and wives have ended up in greater fights because of the tongue.

Proverbs 18:22, says “Death and life is in the power of the tongue…”, as you can see, the tongue is a very small instrument in our bodies but has power. James gives us an example of how powerful the tongue is vs. 4 where he says, “…ships: although they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires” and so is the tongue, it has power to control the entire body. The tongue can start fire spreading like wild fire and very fast. The fire is never satisfied when it is consuming and so is the tongue. In school as a teenager, my mouth always landed me into trouble. I never had strength to physically fight the reason I fought with my tongue. I always got beaten because of my mouth. Had I watched my tongue…. James again says in vs. 6, “And the tongue is a fire of 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”. It’s by the tongue that cussing and swearing comes about; backbiting and gossip; all lies are spread by the tongue; deception and misleading mostly come through the tongue; persuasion is another result of what the tongue can do. There is so much that the tongue can do and yet James 3:8, says “But no man can tame the tongue”. We use the tongue to scold, to nag, to slander, to quarrel, can no man tame. Under pressure and anger, people have said things that should have not come out of their mouths at all. What was released by the tongue damaged big time in small a mount of time.

The bible does not say that the tongue cannot be tamed, it only tells us man cannot tame it Each of us has a tongue and a voice. These instruments of speech can be used destructively or employed constructively. Death and life is in the power of the tongue the bible tells us and that shows me that I can either speak life or speak death in my life or in someone’s life. But we cannot use the same tongue to speak death and life, James 3:9, “With it (tongue) we bless our God, and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God” vs. 10 “Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing”.

I’m not just talking about what you say that affect others but what you say that affects you. Many speak death in their own lives, they speak defeat, and they speak curses in their lives. Instead of taking that precious little thing the tongue and using it to speak destiny, hope and courage, they use it as knife cutting their own throats. No wonder many fall in depression and sickness for they have taken their tongue and used it as a lethal weapon to bring destruction to themselves. You can tell the outworking of the internal by what someone has inside. Luke 6:45, says “…of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” and with this verse you can tell what someone has inside as that is what will come out. The tongue is the manifestation of what is inside for it’s used to bring out what is harbored inside. As said earlier, man cannot tame the tongue but God can for what gets out of men’s control does not get out of God’s control. We need to bring our tongue under God’s control and make it an instrument of blessing and praise. Only God can control it if we yield to Him. I hate to destroy with my tongue, and I hate to say things that will hurt my friends, family or anyone for I know the damage the tongue can bring. I have regretted many times to have said something that to me was okay but to someone else it wasn’t for it hurt them dearly. At times I tend to think that what I can take, someone else too can take it but that is a lie from the pits of hell. My tongue and your tongue ought to be used to build and not tear; bless and not curse; promote and not demote; uplift and not bring down. It’s in the process of yielding to the Lordship of Jesus Christ that we learn the art of using our tongue the Godly way.

You will never bring your tongue under God’s control until you realize you need it controlled. Isaiah 6:5, “So I said, woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips (tongue), And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts”. Isaiah could not see what the damage his tongue was doing until his eyes saw the Lord of hosts and how Holy He is and then realized who he was. Isaiah 6:7, “And he touched my mouth with it (live coal), and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged”. With his admission and confession, he humbled himself and the Lord touched his lips (tongue) with a live coal. Live coal will burn but it will do you and I good. Isaiah was not ready for service until a transformation took place in his life. Where are you with your tongue? what damages has it done? have you asked for forgiveness from those that you hurt with your words? are you gossiping behind someone’s back? “Remember that he/she who tells you about others, tells others about you”. In short, is your tongue under God’s control, BRING IT UNDER HIS CONTROL.

Thanks
Evans