Verse-By-Verse Study - James 3: 6-10

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. - James 3:6-10 (NKJV)

A fellow blogger recently commented on how my verse-by-verse study of James has been missed. I guess I sometimes forget that there are people out there enjoying this blog and what it contains. I apologize for leaving this study to collect dust for so long. I am so thankful for Keary who prompted me to start this study up again. Thank you, Keary! I left off at verse 6 which continues to talk about the tongue.

We have many organs and body parts, but few are talked about so strongly in the Scripture as the tongue is. We read in verse 6 that "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity" and that "it defiles the whole body." It "sets on fire the course of nature" and the tongue itself is "set on fire by hell." Wow! I don't know about you, but those words almost make me want to cut my tongue out. Why would God give my body such an instrument of evil?

I think the question I just asked could be asked regarding just about any part of our bodies or any object that we might find lying around. If I pick up a hammer, I can build a home with it for someone who is homeless. But with that same hammer I could also choose to hit someone over the head with it causing them pain, injury, or in the worst case - death.

I'm not trying to be morbid here. I am just trying to make a point about these verses. I think that James really wanted to hit home the severity of using our tongues in the wrong way. Imagine your tongue lit up from the fires of hell scorching everyone who comes near you. This may sound like an outlandish picture, but that is what can happen every time we choose to let the wrong words come out of our mouth. When we gossip, slander, lie, discourage, put down, or do any other number of evil actions with our words we are essentially burning the people around us and setting their course on a path straight to hell.

I don't mean to make it sound like we have the power to control people's destinies. Ultimately, only God (and each individual) has that power. However, our words can definitely be the difference between helping someone find God now or putting them through torment until someone else can reach them later on. And the sad part is that some people never completely recover from the words spoken to them by people. Many counselors spend day after day trying to comfort those whose parents told them they were worthless growing up. I am convinced that more damage is done each year by words than it is by physical abuse.

James goes on to talk about every creature on Earth and how it can be tamed but that the tongue can't be tamed by man. I think the key thing to note here is that "man" cannot tame the tongue. Adam had dominion over all the creatures of the Earth and each one answered to his call. However, the words of a serpent and of his wife led to his downfall.

The tongue has two sides. One side that is used to encourage and uplift. But the other side is vile and full of poison ready to destroy our fellow brothers and sisters. The quickest way to show hypocrisy is through the tongue as we praise our God in Heaven but then curse man who is made in God's image. We think we can draw close to God by singing praise songs to Him and by handing up prayers of Thanksgiving, but then we gossip and slander His beautiful creations and wonder why we don't feel God's presence.

James declares that this should not be happening. If we can't control our words on our own then what hope is there for us? Does Satan have us beat as he uses this organ of ours to unleash evil? Thankfully, we serve a God who gives us strength in every area, including the area of words. I find that as I pray to God and ask him for self control and for help taming my tongue that He grants my requests and helps me to want to encourage others with every sentence that I speak. This is not always an easy thing to do. I would be lying if I said that there aren't times where I want to tell someone off who makes me mad or I want to yell at someone who I think has treated me unfairly. However, it is during those times that I must remain silent. Better to put away your sword than to cut off the head of a person.

I would like to encourage you today to find someone to uplift today with your words. Not just someone you already like but someone who maybe hasn't been the easiest to love. Let them know that you are praying for them and that you care. Let's take these weapons of ours and use them to slay the enemy rather than each other.

God bless you all! Until next time, may God keep you as you continue on your journey towards Him.