James 3: 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 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.
How happy Satan must be every time one of us utters a profanity or uses the Lord’s name in a way that does not honor Him. Some words have become so ‘normal’ for so many that they go unnoticed…though some might apologize by saying, “Excuse my French.” Doesn’t sound like french to me! It sounds like we have failed to teach our kids that cussing is bad and not acceptable. How many of us remember the taste of soap or just the look of warning from our mom when we dared to say bad words so she could hear? Why is this not happening with kids today? Or why is it that these words are no longer considered unacceptable for anyone to say at any time?
The answer I think is the problem with the whole world right now…laziness. We have so many distractions to deal with and so busy acquiring material things that the most important job we have is often passed on to someone else… the babysitter or daycare worker and the teachers…and many of these use the same words themselves simply because it has become a habit and no longer brings the shocked looks or reprimands it once did. Like all the other problems in our world today, this situation could be solved if only we took the time to deal with it…and only if enough of us cared to make a change.
Not just profane words, but critical, hurtful words are spoken by the tongues of many who seem to think it their job to judge and set straight. The devil is dancing with joy when we see the meanness all around us and we do nothing to stop it. We have to raise the bar of integrity in our country for everyone and elect people to government offices that will strive to uphold certain standards of decency and respect. There can be no more looking the other way or simply accepting things as they are. We can have all the faith and good intentions in the world but without action nothing will be accomplished.
James goes on to tell us that no man can tame the tongue. “It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. We curse men and praise God with the same tongue…and this should not be so! A fountain cannot send forth sweet and bitter water at the same time.”
We see that it is a matter of what is in our hearts that the ugliness comes from. James 3: 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
The wisdom we need in order to tame and control our tongues comes from God above. James 3: 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hipocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Looking at our hearts and seeing our own faults is not always easy to do, but necessary, if we really desire to see a change in our world. Once we see and ask God to help us tame our own tongue we can better deal with whatever comes up…things that would usually make us strike back with words of our own. Only with Jesus’ help can we get our world under proper control and through Him show others what the solution must be. The tongue is a fire…let’s see that ours are on fire only for Jesus!
