Tame Your Tongue
“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison” (James 3:8).
In this verse, James is talking about the tongue of a believer. He is issuing a call to the church to gain control of their
tongues—before they are destroyed by them!
You may ask: How serious is this
matter of taming the tongue? Can an “unruly tongue” really be that sinful?
A loose tongue renders our religion absolutely worthless! It can make your
every spiritual activity totally useless in God’s eyes: “If anyone among
you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own
heart, this one’s religion is useless” (James 1:26).
James’ reference here to those “among you” means people in the church.
Those members of the body of Christ who appear pious, spiritual. They are active in the work of the Lord, but their
tongues are unbridled, out of control!
Are we using our words to cut down/ hurt others or are we using our words to build up and share Jesus with others?
*As believers, we have not taken seriously what our Lord said about taming our tongues. He has made it a heart issue!
* Not only does my careless tongue discount all my spirituality, it also makes me face the fact that my heart is unclean.
If I gossip, tell dirty jokes, run down other people, raise my voice and scream at my family, I must ask myself: “What unclean, filthy stuff is still stored
up in me that I could speak this way?”
Could it be you are angry because have not become what your heart keeps telling you-you should be or do?
I must examine my heart and ask, “Where does this come from? There must be something I have not dealt with or I wouldn’t be saying such things.
*Why do I go on gossiping?
*Why do I utter such mean, careless words?
*What unsanctified strongholds still hold my heart?”
*Our words are super powerful. They can be used to bring healing, calm, help, hope or they can be used for destruction, wrath, anger, deceit, etc.
“How can you, being evil, speak good
things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34-35).
Jesus is saying, “If you are careless with your tongue—quarreling, complaining,
murmuring, tattling—you have a serious heart problem! Your heart is not right
with God, and it Goes Very DEEP.
* There is an evil treasure stored up in you, just as a snake has bags of poison stored behind his jaw. If deadly poison is
coming out of you, it is because the bag has not been drained!”
Whenever I allow something unclean to come out of my lips, I must stop and say
to the Lord, “Master, there must still be a root of jealousy, envy or lust in
my heart. Dig deep into my heart and pluck out the roots of bitterness, pride or whatever it is!”
*God wants to get at that evil in your heart, that bag of poison hidden inside of you! He wants to root it out and heal you completely.
The prophet Isaiah(Chap. 6) provides us with an example of how we can heal our tongue.
1. Isaiah drew near to the Lord and prayed for a vision of God’s holiness.
“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1).
*Anyone who wants to live pleasing to the Lord must constantly go into His
presence until he obtains a vision of God’s holiness. All healing, all true
blessings, all victories begin at His throne. That is where we see God in His
holiness!
2. In God’s holy presence Isaiah was deeply convicted of having unclean lips.
“Then I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have
seen the King, the Lord of hosts’” (6:5).
Why did Isaiah cry out, “I am a man of unclean lips”? It was because he had
seen the King of Glory! Our transgressions become exceedingly sinful when we are
in God’s presence. The light of His holy countenance exposes everything that
is unlike Him!
3. Isaiah allowed the Lord to touch him and cleanse him with His holy fire.
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he
had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and
said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and
your sin purged’” (6:6-7).
God’s Word is a live coal and the Holy Spirit is its fire! Right now you have
been touched by the Holy Spirit through this message and God wants to put His
fire to your tongue and sanctify it. He can do it for you and me if we will let His Word convict us! He is the only One who can do it. Our part is simply to
confess, as Isaiah did, “Woe is me, I am unclean!”
Let this word go straight to your heart and purge you with its fire. Confess,
“Yes, it is me, Lord! I will not let this word pass me by! Purge my lips and
my tongue. Cleanse my mouth and my heart!”
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4
The Bible says when Christ comes to live in your heart, old things are passed away, all things become new (see 2 Cor. 5:17). The Lord has put a new Spirit in us. Thank you Jesus!!! Your Love and your Word to us is so so wonderful! Amen