The Tongue

"Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things." v5   

                                                                                                 James 3:1-12    NKJV 

Just a look at v8 of James 3 gives us a concerning assessment of this member of our body: 

'No man can tame the tongue'. This is quite astounding comment from James and one, that we should study closely. Tony Evans comments:

'The only successful tongue-tamer is God. Some spouses have hurled insults that their mates have never forgotten. Some individuals started gossip fires years ago and the flames are still burning.'              Tony Evans Bible Commentary

This fire can destroy a person's self-esteem and confidence and can also rip a relationship apart. It can also ruin a person's whole future.

Matthew 12:34-35 tells us that whatever is inside the heart will come out one way or another. This may be good fruit or bad. Therefore, we need to be filled with scripture and the Holy Spirit. How? As I've said many times, by spending time with the only one who can keep us on the straight and narrow each day, Jesus. Think about it, we can bless and praise God and the next moment we can curse someone with judgemental and detrimental comments. This should not be. When we curse someone, we are talking about someone who has been made in the image of God. They may not measure up to our standards but they may to God's. Be careful here. Heaven notices what we say. The Holy Spirit knows all about us and witnesses our behaviour whether it is good or bad. People may not hear what we say about other people when we are in the safety of our home, but he does. He hears every word and I do mean every word. Unless we repent of this, we will have to give an account to Jesus when we stand before Him. We should not take this lightly.

The tongue is small but it can do a lot of damage. Rather like a spark can set off a major forest fire, the tongue can bring total devastation to someone's life. Therefore it is essential that we get things right. Only God can tame the tongue, we can't do this on our own. It takes a full blown commitment to Jesus who will then help us to clean up our hearts and have control over every word that comes out of our mouths. It is well worth surrendering.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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