Taming the Tongue

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have ben made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My friends, this should not be" [James 3:9-10].

Two-thirds of James 3 is devoted to the tongue and it's potential for bringing about "evil." As we talked about, James seems one sided in his opinions about the tongue's potential. So, below you will find a handful of verses from James and from other places in scripture that address our speech/mouth/lips/tongue (all trying to get at the way we use our words words).

I invite you to read through these verses a couple times and pay attention to anything that "jumps out at you" as being significant or interesting...perhaps these words are what God is saying to you. Then, as James says, "don't just listen to the word and deceive yourselves, do what it says..."

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life..." [Proverbs 10:11]

"The lips of the righteous nourish many..." [Proverbs 10:21]

"The tongue has the power of life or death..." [Proverbs 18:21]

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." [James 1:19]

"If you claim to be religious but don't contril your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless." [James 1:26]

"...But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice slanger, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other...." [Colossians 3:8-9]

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." [Ephesians 4:29]

"But among you there must not be...obscenity, foolish talk, or course joking, which are out of place..." [Ephesians 5:3-4]

There is no shortage of instruction regarding the use of our mouths. It seems clear: our mouths are an amazing gift from God, a tool for bringing about life and encouragement, truth and delight. Just think about how good it is to be complimented or to laugh at something someone has said. Our mouths have incredible potential for good! But there are two sides to this coin. Our mouths have incredible potential for harm and destruction. James goes all the way by saying, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of their life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." Whoa, calm down buddy! Makes you wonder what James struggled with...could it have anything to do with his lashing and firey tongue?

Nevertheless, let's use our mouths for good; for building each other up, for speaking truth and life to those who listen.