188 James: Weighing Your Words

“Sticks and stones may break my bones...but words will never hurt me.”

We’ve all heard those words and maybe even said them ourselves. But as catchy as they might be, they’re just not true.

Words are extremely potent and can mark a person for life. 

The writer of the book of Proverbs recognized this when he wrote: “The power of life and death is in the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21)

Now James picks up that theme in his letter. He has just spoken about how faith needs to be seen in our works. Now he continues that thought noting that among these “works” is the issue of how we use our “words.”

First of all, he notes...

The tongue is small but very significant.

He uses the illustrations of a bit in a horse’s mouth and the rudder of a great ship to show how something relatively small can control something much larger. These are both positive examples of the tongue’s capacity for good.

Words of encouragement and blessing can be life-giving and healing.

But the flip side is also true.

The tongue is delicate but very dangerous.

Spoken words can burn deeply into a person, many times scarring them for life. Whether it’s sarcasm, mockery, accusation, ridicule, or rage, your words can burn deeper than you could ever know.

The tongue is restless and resistant.

Like a wild animal resists being restrained, so the tongue resists our human efforts to tame it.

James exposes the inconsistencies he has seen among believers. One minute your tongue is praising God and the next that very same tongue is cursing people. How can this be?

The tongue is a symptom, not the source           

James asks a couple of rhetorical questions. “Can both fresh and saltwater flow from the same spring?” Of course, the answer is, “No.” The water that comes out of a spring is determined by the subsurface nature of the spring.  

“Can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs?” he asks.  Again the obvious answer is, “No.”  The fruit is a function of the root.

James’ point?  What comes out of your mouth is illustrative of a deeper issue: the state of your heart. 

We must freshly present ourselves to the Lord and regularly ask the Spirit of God to control our tongues. 

Text: James 3:12 

Originally recorded on April 11, 2010, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN