James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we
shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in
word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits
in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are
so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder
wherever the pilot desires. 5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a
forest a little fire kindles! 6
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. 7
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed
and has been tamed by mankind. 8
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water
and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine
bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. 13 Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness
of wisdom. 14 But if you
have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against
the truth.
I serve Creator God. I belong to Him, lock, stock, barrel, and…mouth?
Strange as it may seem, many of us would claim the prospect of
wholly His, while at the same time regularly being mouthly His ain’t.
This is not unusual at all, and this is the reason James takes
this up. James saw the same people praise His brother Jesus as He rode into
Jerusalem and call for Barabbas when the choice between Jesus and Barabbas had
to be made.
What is really being spoken of here is consistency, through and
through. What the Bible calls integrity, or wholeness.
You have often heard it said you are really the person you are
when no one else is watching. What is your character when no one sees?
Just as the ankle-bone is connected to the foot-bone, so the
heart-bone is connected to the mouth-bone. This is why Jesus said it is out of
the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. If you have an ungraceful
mouth, it is because you have an ungraceful heart. I need to teach that to
myself first, lest I be judged by my own mouth.
-Pastor Bill
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