SOLT Podcast E21 – The Power of the Tongue

This lesson comes from the passage found in the Book of James 3:6-12. This is something that God has laid on my heart after hearing a message on the topic of the tongue.

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

There is so much power in our tongue. The tongue can do so much. The tongue has been used to do great things. Presidents and leaders have used the tongue to rally nations together. I think of Presidents in the past that have given a great speech of unity after a natural disaster or major attack by an enemy. The tongue has so much power!

The tongue has the power to change things and even change people, and their desires. This verse shows us how we can use our tongue in a negative way. The verse says the tongue is a fire and a world of iniquity.

That means we have a ton of power in our tongue. We possess all this power, in the words that we say. We have the enormous power of fire and iniquity. We know the power in a fire. Think of all these wildfires in the USA and Canada. Think of the tragedy in Hawaii, The fire that burned up Maui and all those lives lost and even the ones that survived have lost their homes and most of their personal belongings. This is all because of the power of fire.

The Bible says that we possess the power of fire right in our mouths. We can cause all this damage and pain just with our tongues.

Let’s read on in this passage.

Jas 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

These verses now compare our tongue to wild animals. The Bible tells us that all these wild animals can be trained and tame, but then it says in the very next verse that no man can tame the tongue and it is unruly and evil. It even goes as far to say that our tongue is full of deadly poison.

We could use our powerful tongue to do so much evil. When no effort is put in to keep our tongue in control, it will be unruly and evil. The verse even says that our tongue is full of deadly poison.

Now you might be thinking, no way! Our tongue, our words can’t kill anyone. Well, that is debatable but I will show you what I think this verse is referring to.

Our tongue can kill others…. What do I mean? When we allow our tongue to do evil and spread hate, we are blocking people from seeing Jesus in us. If they could just see Jesus in us, they could then believe and become a child of God. We have spiritually killed them with the deadly poison of our tongue.

We can also cause people to see our evil, and not just to not be able to see Jesus in us, but they will also see the hate and evil in us. They will never consider giving their lives to Jesus and becoming a so called Christian, if they see us, which are the children of God, if they see us being evil and wicked with our speech. This will cause them to never consider living for God because of our behavior. We have killed them with our deadly poison.

Now speaking about the tongue the passage goes on to say…

Jas 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Jas 3:11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

Jas 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

We see here a contrast between good and evil. This contrast is severely different, both sides are very far apart. If this was two people negotiating a deal, I would say it is a lost cause, because they are so far apart.

On one side we have… Blessing God, and blessing people, sweet water and fresh water.

On the other side we have… Cursing God’s creation, and cursing people, bitter water and salt water.

James chapter 3:10 says that all these things can come out of the same mouth. We need to pay attention to what we say. Just because we are a Christian does not mean that we are not capable of saying wicked things with our tongue. Just because we use our tongue for good and blessings does not mean it is not capable of being used for evil!

I think I have spent enough time on the negative side today, the negative power that we possess in our tongues. We need to make sure we remember this though, so that we actively try to use our tongues for good!

I now want to talk about the good we can do with our tongue… This passage compares our tongue to Blessing God, blessing others, sweet water and fresh water. This is what we should be doing, this is the power we should be using our tongue for!

What better example do we have than Jesus Christ, we should be aiming to be as much like Him as we can. Jesus says in Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Also, John 3:34 says… For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:

Jesus speaks the Words of God. Jesus didn’t speak of Himself, Jesus spoke the words of God. If we are to be as much like Jesus as possible, we should also speak like Jesus spoke. We too should speak the Words of God just like Jesus.

So, what are the words of God??? What would God say? How would God use His tongue?

We can find our answer in the bible… Solomon writes in Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Out of God’s mouth comes wisdom and Knowledge and understanding. This is what we should be aiming to do with our tongues. This is what should result from our speech, from the words we choose to use.

We should be trying to be just like Jesus who was being just like God. We need to use our tongues for good, for producing wisdom and knowledge and understanding!

Remember the tongue is a powerful tool. Its power can be used for bad and evil and destruction but this power can be used for good and amazing things!

Every time we open our mouths, we have a choice; we can choose to use our tongue for good or evil. If you are not sure what you have been choosing then look at what your tongue has produced. Is it good or bad? Is it refreshing, sweet and a blessing… or, is it producing bitterness and cursing.

Hopefully it’s the first option, but I’m sure we all have had times where it was the second option. In those times we need to turn to God first and ask for forgiveness and strength to not do that again. After we get things right with God, we then need to get right with anyone who heard our words.

Now, in our digital world we live in today, I just want to make sure it is clear, that this message does not only apply to the words we say out loud with our tongue, but it also applies to the words we type with our fingers as well.

If we produce bitterness and evil with our spoken words or our written words then we need to make sure we make it right and moving forward we need to put more effort in to not doing it again.

The easiest way to do this is to focus on our tongues producing good, sweet, refreshing and blessings. If we make this our focus then we will find that there isn’t any room for the negative and bitter producing words.

Sometimes I think we produce this bitterness and evil, not so much on purpose, but really maybe without even putting much thought into it. Sometimes we just say things before we took time to think about it, sometimes we say things in retaliation. This is dangerous and wrong; we need to be careful not to do this because this behavior produces this bitterness and evil.

I heard a poem read by David Jermiah this week. He did not say who wrote it or what the name of the poem was, I put the title of “Let the Ink Dry” on it.

“Think twice before you speak,

count ten before you strike,

and if you choose to write,

let the ink dry overnight.”

“Don’t give a piece of mind,

your piece of mind to gain,

though it may seem quite right,

let the ink dry overnight.”

“Next morning you may be

humbled in your prayer,

thanking the God of light,

that you let the ink dry overnight.”

I think these are very wise words. I hope we all think of this poem next time we are about to say something that maybe we shouldn’t.

This may be harder for some than others and that is ok. Jesus said in… Luke 21:15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, God is more than capable of giving you a mouth, full of wisdom. Just pray to God, ask Him for help and give your speech to God.

Paul says in his opening prayer in the letter to the Ephesians that he prays (Eph 1:17) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom

Again, God can fill us with the wisdom needed through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The tongue is a powerful tool! Let’s use our tongue, our speech for amazing things! For wise things! Let’s use out tongues for the work of the Lord!

Let’s give our tongues to God, for God to use it to bring the lost to Christ, that God may use it to help encourage struggling brothers and sisters, that God can use it to edify others, build others up, help other grow in their faith and knowledge of God.

Let’s give our tongues to God and let Him use them for His glory!

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