Taming the Tongue Part I.

James 3:1-8
1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 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. 5 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. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.


This is a very powerful passage from the book of James, especially starting at verse 5. It's so true. We can control most things. Take for example: our hand and what we write with using our hands. If we're writing and we don't like the way it was written we can either: delete it if it was typed, erase it if it was with a pencil, or cross it out if it was with a pen. We have control over what we say through our writing.

However, it's a bit trickier when it comes via word of mouth. Our mouth is very hard to train. Many times we can get so wrapped up in the moment that we blurt out negative, hurtful, illusive remarks. The problem is we speak before we think, instead of the other way around. Therefore, think now: not later!

When this scripture says "the tongue makes great boasts," it's so true. Anything can come out of our mouth and most of it is believable if we use just the right words. I'm not trying to pick on President Obama, but I believe he's a prime example of a "tongue that makes great boasts." He gave all of these promises in his campaign speech in the last year or so since he was inaugurated (and even before). He said he's all about "change." He said he would create more jobs and get America out of this financial crisis. Not much has changed, in my opinion.

These words sounded like "grand speeches" as the NLT version of the Bible describes it in verse 5. Obama seemed like a great leader for many and the result of much needed change across the country. I mean c'mon if he speaks very well, that must mean he's the perfect president. That's precisely where we, as Americans, went wrong in this whole situation.

I'm not saying that having any other president in office would have been better for the economic situation of the United States. I'm not saying Obama is a bad person. He does have excellent leadership skills. He's just not the most effective individual. Nobody can ever be perfect. Plus, in his defense, Obama's only been in office for 10 months now. However, I do strongly believe that Americans jumped the gun. They saw that Obama was an excellent speaker. Some voted for him just because of that characteristic without thinking of what it might mean for the country.

This is a lesson for all of us today. Don't be fooled just by someone's speeches. Words can be deceiving, among other things. Meanwhile, don't let your tongue chatter away dangerously or else it will put you in a bind. Hold back those angry, hurtful words as well. Ask God to help you control your tongue so that you don't condemn God or fool anyone. Finally, let grace and appreciation flow from your tongue as we go into the Thanksgiving holiday.

I'll finish up this discussion on "Taming the tongue" on Friday. Tomorrow I want to talk about something more Thanksgiving-like as a whole.

"A major key to a joy filled life is using your tongue as an instrument of good instead of an instrument of evil." ~Pastor Greg from Hopewell Baptist Church