10 February 2020
James 3:1-12
The Bible tells us that the power of life and death rests on the tongue (see Proverbs 18:21) and so it’s our duty as Christians to speak life not just unto ourselves but also unto others because the same tongue that is used to praise God, cannot be and should not be the same tongue that curses people. Insulting those that are created in the image of the Creator is as good as insulting the Creator Himself.
In as much as the tongue may be one of the smallest organs of the body, it has the power to either make or break and as such we ought to be very watchful of what exits our mouths. Our tongues were meant to build, heal, restore, speak life and nothing else.
There is power in the tongue and the taming of our tongues is a call to purity, as we only tend to reproduce what is on the inside (see Proverbs 4:23). Our tongues will always speak whatever is filled in our hearts, that is why we ought to filter the content we allow to enter into us and fill ourselves with good and constructive things such as the Word of God (see Matthew 7:17-20).
There is a level of perfection that comes with the taming of the tongue. Humans cannot naturally tame their tongues on their own but can only do so with the help of the Holy Spirit; whom through us produces in us the fruit of self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). Misdirected words can cause a lot of harm and trying to fix it may prove to be even harder. If the intention is to correct and not to hurt then let everything be said from a place of love and sincerity.
James 3: 1-12 shows us that the tongue, just like fire, has attributes that can be put to good use but at the same time the very same tongue that can do good, also has the potential to cause harm when misused. One has to remember that the words you speak are the fruits you’ll eventually eat.
Whatever is abundant in your heart at a given time is what will come out of your mouth. Self-control comes in to play to prevent us from saying things we might regret in the future and knowing that the devil is not omniscient like God, he only knows what you’re thinking when you say it and with such, it gives us the advantage as Christians to be able to confuse him with the words we speak and so in times of anger and pain, may your tongue speak the opposite of what your heart feels and may you continue to give praise to God at all times.
