Read: James 3:1-12
Devotion: James makes a bold claim. He says that if a person was able to control what they say at all times and in all situations, then that person would never sin (James 3:2a). Ever! That’s incredible, but how can that be true?
It’s true because the tongue—our speech—is so difficult to control that if someone was able to perfectly govern what they said at every given moment, then controlling the rest of their body would be a piece of cake (v. 2b). We know this from experience. Think about all the ways that we sin. As James says, we all stumble in many ways.
Now this is bit extreme, but take murder for example. For most people, they would need to be push pretty hard to become angry enough to from thinking about murder to actually going through with it. There are emotional and physical barriers to completing this heinous deed, and the person would need to follow through with several physical steps to commit the sin.
But how easy is it for us to curse someone out who cut us off on the freeway? Both are sin, both are, in a sense, murder (Matt 5:21-22), and yet the sin with our tongue is much easier to commit. On top of that, think about how often we think without speaking. We blurt something out that we really shouldn’t have, and we offend or hurt someone with our words (Prov 12:18). From our human perspective, we might think that it doesn’t ultimately matter how we use our words, but Scripture tells us that we will have to give an account before Christ of every careless word we speak (Matt 12:36-37).
If that wasn’t enough to make us realize how dangerous an uncontrolled tongue is, James reminds us how powerful it is as well. Like a bit in a horse’s mouth or the rudder of a ship, the tongue can direct our actions. Our speech can be both an incredible blessing and an encouragement, or it can be utterly devastating for others and for ourselves. If we know someone who is mourning, a timely encouragement could be like a healing salve to their souls (Prov 12:18). Our words can also encourage ourselves and others into right action as we preach the truth of Christ.
On the other hand, we can mutter something in frustration that we shouldn’t have in earshot of our boss, and we might have to find a new job. A careless word to a friend or a family member can destroy our relationship with them. If we’re going through customs on our way back from an oversees vacation, a poor joke could end up with us wasting several hours in security or even land us in jail.
Most of these are physical impacts that our tongue may have on us, but what about its spiritual impact? As Jesus says several times in the gospels our speech reflects the condition of our hearts (Luke 6:45). This is why we’re held accountable for every word that we speak, no matter if we ‘meant it’ or not.
And this is ultimately why it is so vital that we control our tongues, because an uncontrolled tongue is reflective of an unbelieving heart. Someone who has absolutely no care about what they say and about the effects that their words might have is not someone who loves God and neighbor.
Our mouths aren’t made to be used to both praise God and curse people made in the image of God (James 3:9-10). If we have been redeemed through the blood of Christ our tongues should be doing a whole lot of the former and as very little as we can manage of the latter. As with the rest of our body and of our thoughts, our speech should be conforming to the image of Christ if the Spirit is truly within us.
Christ never said a careless word in His life. He was always in perfect control of His tongue, and guess what? He never sinned in any other way either. While we are not Jesus and have yet to receive our perfected bodies and perfect natures, that doesn’t mean that we abandon all efforts to control our tongues. It means that we rely more on God’s grace through Christ because we know that without Him our task is impossible (v. 8). Though it is difficult, we must discipline our speech, trusting that in Christ our work is not in vain.
Ponder and Pray: Consider dangers of an uncontrolled tongue. How else does an uncontrolled tongue reflect an unbelieving heart? Finish by asking God for help in controlling your speech.
