Today’s reading is James 3.
James said if we don’t bridle our tongues, we deceive our hearts and our religion is worthless (James 1:26). He also said we need to learn to be quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19). However, in James 3, he lets us know the challenge we are up against. We will find it easier to tame a lizard than to tame our own tongue. Our mouths are restless evil and full of deadly poison.
Before proceeding, can we simply recognize James refuses to give us a copout for anything we say? Usually, we try to come up with all kinds of excuses for our mouths. “I didn’t really mean that.” “I wasn’t thinking.” “It just slipped out.” “You can’t blame me for that, I hit my thumb with a hammer.” James makes no excuses. He says the problem is sin and evil. Don’t forget James is anchored in the teachings of his half-brother, Jesus. Do you recall what Jesus said about the tongue? “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:8, ESV). The problem is not simply the tongue as if it is somehow a separate entity from us. The problem is the tongue directly reflects, expresses, and exposes the heart.
However, for all the difficulty expressed in this. James does give us a powerful point. Since the tongue is so difficult to work with, if we get it under control, we’ll get everything else under control. He gives two examples. Control a horse’s mouth with a bit, and you direct the horse’s entire body. Additionally, when a pilot steers the tiny rudder, it controls where the whole ship goes. If we bridle and control our speech, we will bridle and control all our behavior. Certainly, James is saying if you can do the more difficult thing (control your tongue), you can do the easier thing (control your bodily behavior). However, I believe it goes deeper than that. When we control what we say, what we do falls in line naturally. Our bodies will follow where our mouths lead.
Of course, we’re stuck with the difficulty that no human being can tame the tongue. It’s possible we should read this as saying we’ll always stumble and fall, but we need to work really, really hard on the tongue and do the best we can. That is probably true as far as it goes. However, the application is much more likely to be instead of piloting ourselves, we hand control of our mouths over to God. We let Jesus be the pilot. We determine to let Him control and tame our speech. We fill our minds and hearts with His things so His things proceed from our hearts to our mouths, controlling not only our speech but also our bodily behavior.
Whatever else we may say about this section of James, at the very least we must learn what we say matters. We will give account for every careless word (Matthew 12:36). So, be careful little mouth what you say.
Tomorrow’s reading is James 3.
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Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family
- What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
- Why do you think the tongue is so difficult to tame?
- What sins of the tongue do you struggle with the most?
- How can you hand control of that over to God?
- What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?
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