Christian Living

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January 9, 2012 – Tongue Tamers

8 But the human tongue can be tamed by no man. It is a restless (undisciplined, irreconcilable) evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness! 10 Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so. – James 3:8-10 AMP

James said a mouthful in these three verses. Even in the first century, people’s mouths would get them into trouble. It is a shame that Christians today don’t understand the full scope of James’ words here. The same tongue is used by people to bless God and curse men then and now. In a verse preceding today’s passage, James even calls the tongue a fire. But just because James says it cannot be tamed by men does not mean there will never be victory in the control of our mouth.

Yesterday millions of churches all over the world dismissed their morning service shortly after noon. In those parking lots afterward, there was enough gossip spread to turn the church lawn to ashes in just a couple of minutes. Did you participate in this activity? Spreading rumors about people is the same as cursing them, regardless of how much you claim they need your prayers. You just left the church building where you were praising God, now you are cursing men. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.

Gossip is not the only way Christians curse men. Some curse themselves with their own words. How many times have you befriended a believer and had them continually downtrodden about their problems? They may be having trouble committing the same sins over and over. They may be having difficulties in their marriage. Often in the midst of their trials they will say something like I guess I’ll never get it right or I suppose I will carry this around forever. With their own mouths they have cursed themselves. They have defeated themselves by their own words. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.

I can say with honesty that my tongue has needed some serious taming in the past. I knew how to gossip very well, thank you very much. When I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I even learned how to make it look better under a pretense of praying for others. And yes, I would curse myself with my own words. I am now much more careful about the things I say, although Marlo has to point out my slip-ups on occasion. We have even taught our children to watch out using such phrases as that scared me to death. Very often Christians use phrases like these to describe their feelings and use them in a joking manner, even though the Bible draws great attention to our words and the way we use them. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.

20 A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil]. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. – Proverbs 18:20-21 AMP

23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles. – Proverbs 21:23 AMP

The Bible is filled with tidbits like these. God has placed a great importance on the words we speak. But there is absolutely no way our tongue can be tamed by anything we do. The only way our tongues can be bridled is with God’s help.

3 Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. – Psalm 141:3 AMP

We have to ask God to help us guard our mouths. He can bridle our tongue. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, knew this and had to pray it. If someone as close to God as David was had to ask God for this, how much more often should we pray for it? We should seek God daily, even hourly if we have to, in order to keep our tongue under control.

In the greater scheme of things we all just need to have a heart wholly committed to God. When our heart follows Him, there is no desire to gossip. When our heart follows Him, there is no defeat. When our heart follows Him we are not cursing ourselves or others. When our heart follows Him, he does guard our mouth. And when our heart follows Him our tongue is tamed, but not by any man. These things, my brethren, are the way things should be.

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