Taming the Tongue

James 3: 6-10 -  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.  All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,  but no man 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 men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

I have erased my sentence three times now…maybe it was the warning I got from verse 1, that God will always hold me responsible for what I say…but I am really struggling with just what to say…for there are really two themes in these few verses. The first theme jumped out at me really quick….the cursing I hear around me has become so accepted in many places.  And in our world of free speech… the “stay out of my business” attitudes of many around us….I find myself being more and more tolerant of the ones around me that curse and use such inappropriate language these days.  But the other theme is more for those of us that ‘think’ we don’t curse….we think that if we avoid the known curse words that whatever else we say is okay.

I think James is talking about judging others here too. He is telling us once again to be careful of what we say to each other…that we can curse man with more than just an unacceptable curse word.  When we make fun of a person because of their dress…when we gossip and spread unkind things..even when we saw it happen or it happened to us….our tongue is being used to curse them.  Our tongue starts an uncontrollable fire that causes so much damage before we realize we even started it.  It is like a feather pillow.  Those unkind words are released into the air and carried quickly by the people Satan tricked into passing on the rumor.  The feathers move so quickly …and can never be taken back. 

Father...this message is clear….I need to keep my tongue from being used as Satan’s weapon against the people you want me to love. I need to be on guard for those feathers that come my way and catch them…stop them from spreading any further. And God…I really need help with what to do when I hear cursing around me.  Give me some ways to lovingly react …to help them think about you…without judging them.  Forgive me for any feathers I helped pass on….and give me new wisdom to know how to tame my tongue in the future. Amen.