Taming The Tongue

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 body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

- James 3:3-8, James, the half-brother of Jesus

Candidly, passages like this in the Bible are not fun to read. Who wants to read about how evil and god-forsaken we are? Yet, it is passages like this that cause me to realize how desperately I need Jesus in my life. Without Him, I am destined to destroy everything around me. I would be like a California wildfire with 0% containment, destroying everything in its path.

I don’t know if you have ever ridden a horse or steered a ship, but I imagine you have done at least one of the two at some point in your life. If so, you understand how that small bit in the horse’s mouth exerts control over a huge animal. You also understand how a small rudder (relative to the size of the ship) causes the ship to go in the direction we determine.

James is telling us that the tongue works the same way. Though small in comparison to the rest of our body, our tongue exerts a vast amount of control. One harsh word, one untruth, one small piece of gossip, one sarcastic remark, or one cruel joke can cause irreversible damage to a relationship.  

James warns us that, while we have been given dominion over all the creatures that roam the earth and sea, we are unable to control this one small part of our own body – our tongue. Not only are we unable to control it, it controls us. So, what is the solution?

JESUS!

James writes, in the beginning of the next verse (verse 9), “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father...”

I don’t know about you, but I have discovered the more time I spend speaking the name of Jesus (in appropriate ways, of course!), the less time I have to say things I should not be saying. The more time my tongue is proclaiming the goodness of God, the less time it has to speak negatively to and about others.

So, in some ways the solution is simple: Praise God and proclaim the name of Jesus every moment of every waking day, and we will not have to worry about saying things we shouldn’t.

How do we do that? By consciously being aware of the presence of Jesus in our lives and thinking on the things that are honoring to Him.

The Apostle Paul gives us a great list to help us do that. In Philippians 4:8, he writes:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

If we spend our time thinking about these things, far less negative stuff will come out of our mouths and we will find ourselves on the road to “taming the tongue.”

Let’s practice it together and watch how it transforms our lives, our workplace, our church, our neighborhood, and our community.

With the help of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we CAN tame that beast called the tongue.

Pastor Ken

‍