THE POWERFUL TONGUE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being 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 human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James 3:2-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After a NBA playoff game the other night, a player, upset by the way things went in the team’s loss and elimination from the playoffs, decided to take it out on a reporter in the locker room. As the reporter tried to hold her microphone in a position to capture the player’s comments, the player asked her to move the microphone before asking is she subscribed to his podcast. When she said she didn’t, he asked her to leave.

It was a petty move, taking out his frustration on a reporter who was just doing her job, and, as is usually the case, the player was forced to apologize afterwards as a firestorm of criticism rained down on him.

Why bring this up?

Because as we see in today’s scripture passage from the third chapter of James, we’re reminded of how our tongues can get us in deep trouble if we don’t intentionally work to keep them in check. And before we get to hyper-critical of this basketball player’s behavior, let’s step back and know that we all have been just as guilty in our lives of saying the wrong thing to someone because we spoke on impulse without self control.

Let’s look again at our verses for today.

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being 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 human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Vv. 2-12

Out of all the parts of the body that one would consider strong, no one would intuitively include the tongue on the list. Anatomically, it’s considered a voluntary muscle which means a person chooses to move it. Given that, it is like the muscles in one’s fingers, arms, or legs but unlike the heart.

This means the tongue only activates when we want it too and therein is the problem at hand. We underestimate the power the tongue possesses and that underestimation ends up being our downfall, especially because the tongue is such a critical part of our speech mechanism. Too often, we don’t understand the significance of exercising proper control over this voluntary muscle until it’s too late.

How dangerous is the unchecked, unbridled tongue?

The Word of God tells us that it can end up being “a world of evil among the parts of the body” able to corrupt its host and set “the whole course of one’s life on fire”. Calling the tongue a “restless evil”, the Lord goes on to say it is full of deadly poison that can not only harm the person it dwells in but the people impacted by the evil words it speaks.

As this isn’t harrowing enough, we also learn one troubling, sobering truth from this passage. For no one has the ability to “tame the tongue”. It’s impossible for any person to do on their own.

This is why people need to believe in Jesus. For not only does He bring them the promise of eternal life but the gift of the Holy Spirit as well. And when the Holy Spirit enters the Christian believer, then and only then can they produce the fruits the Spirit brings and one of those is self control, control over all actions to include the divine-provided strength to rein in the powerful tongue.

You see, just as we can voluntarily use the tongue muscle for evil, we can also use it for good. For through the influence of the Holy Spirit and submitting to his leading, the Christian believer allows their words to be their own but rather of the Christ who is alive within them. And when His words are spoken, they will always bless the listener and be pleasing in the sight of God the Father.

Are you finding yourself in constant trouble over saying the wrong things to others, reflective of your tongue spewing out the evil it’s capable of?

Today is the day to fix that problem. Surrender your words to Christ Jesus. Allow His words to be Your words. Give in fully to the guiding of the Holy Spirit and gain the gift of self control.

Trust me when I say, you’ll never regret making these changes nor will the people you open up your mouth to speak to.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.