Taming the Tongue

James 3:7-10

A couple years ago my family went to Sea World in Orlando. Though I had seen it before, I was amazed at the water shows as the birds and dolphins were doing their many tricks. And then I saw the fiercest sea creature, the killer whale, not only play with the trainer in the water, but kiss him. That was incredible! It is amazing how man has tamed so many animals, even killer whales.

And yet, we can’t tame our tongues. James 3:7-10 states: “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”

How blessed we are that our Lord graciously spoke words of forgiveness on our behalf. Pray that His Spirit would empower us to tame our tongues to praise God and lift up our neighbor, so all who hear us are amazed and give glory to God.

This is just one example of how the Letter of James functions like ‘the proverbs of the New Testament’ and is filled with wisdom for our daily lives. It’s a short letter, so take a few minutes and read it. Here are some of my favorite passages of wisdom from James:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22).
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27).
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16).

The tongue may be hard to tame and we definitely fall short of the proverbs of wisdom we read in the book of James. Praise God that He graciously spoke words of forgiveness on our behalf as well!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:17-18

Have a great day in the Lord!

Published June 15, 2011

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