Taming the Tongue

Written By Rev. Law Hui Seng

3rd May, 2009

Posted By Teresa Han

James 3:1-12
Main Idea: Ways to tame the tongue.
Objectives: a. To show to the congregation how powerful our tongues can be. B. To show to the congregation how to control our tongues.

A. Introduction
- This past year, if someone had paid you ten dollars for every kind word you ever spoke about other people, and also collected five dollars for every kind word, would you be rich or poor?
- Some people are too talkative. They are like the young man who supposedly went to the great Greek philosopher Socrates to learn oratory. On being introduced, he talked so incessantly that Socrates asked for double fees. “Why charge me double?” said the young fellow. “Because,” said the orator, “I must teach you two sciences: the one is how to hold your tongue, and the other is how to speak.”
- A talkative woman once tried to justify the quickness of her own tongue by saying, “It passes; it is done with quickly.” To which the famous evangelist Billy Sunday replied, “So does a shotgun blast.” And such is the action of a quick tongue that it also leaves devastation in its wake.
- A young lady once said to John Wesley, “I think I know what my talent is.” Wesley said, “Tell me.” She replied, “I think it is to speak my mind.” Wesley said, “ I do not think God would mind if you bury that talent.”
- How useful are your tongues? Are you amazed by the way God created your tongues? It is a creative gift from God that most of the time we take it for granted. We do not appreciate God as much for the usefulness of our tongue and we use it to sin against God.
- This morning, we need to humble ourselves and learn from the letter of James on how to tame our tongues.
- He has written the most elaborate passage in the bible about the use of tongue and how we should use it. Let us now examine the context of powerful use of our tongues.

B. How powerful is our tongue?

- The author James is addressing the teachers in the church with regards to teaching the word of God. It is a very important office in the church and the Jewish tradition at that time. There might be people who wish to put themselves forward as teachers because of the status and other rewards of the position.
- And so James issued the warning verse 1 that says those who are teaching will be judged more strictly when they face God. The judgment includes wrong teaching and the sinful speech as verse 2b implies that we sin against God in speech. It says, “…If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
- In order to emphasize his point of the necessity of taming the tongue, he needs to illustrate how powerful and destructive the tongue is. He uses his imagination to the fullest to say that our tongue need to be controlled like the bit put into the mouth of a horse in order to make it obey the rider. Something his people in his context can understand as they use horses as common transport in those days.
- In order to be more convincing, he uses the powerful illustration of the very small rudder of a ship. The tongue is small but very powerful. This is to show that the tongue is like a small rudder which will sail in the direction decided by the pilot. Telling us that we are the pilot of the tongue. The pilot must control the tongue. It makes great boasts which are not good for the person.
- Next, it looks like the illustration is getting more and more powerful and it aim to convince the readers and people like you and me to really control before disaster hit us. And so, now James likens the tongue to be a fire, a world of evil in verse 6. James is really telling the readers and all of us today, the tongue is the hardest faculty to control, it is there in the body, it is described as a world of evil, it points to the heart of a person. In Jesus, our Lord made a similar observation in Mark 7:21, 23 “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, adultery,….All these evils come from the inside and make a man unclean” Similar to the teaching of Jesus James state in the later of verse 6, the tongue make the whole of a person unclean, it says, “It corrupts the whole person, set the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Take note our tongue can be controlled by the devil from hell. The evil in a person can be traced back to Satan from the hell!
- James continued to elaborate how hard it is to control the tongue and warn people against the evil of the tongue. This time he says that man can tame all kinds of animals but we cannot tame our tongue, a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
- He now drives the reader to an extreme and really forces them to make a choice to control the tongue. In verses 9 to 12 he cries out loud and clear, how can we allow our tongue to be used for both godly purpose of praising God and cursing man. Both fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring, the same source. A fig tree cannot bear olives, a grapevine cannot bear fig and a salt spring cannot produce fresh water.
- Loud and clear message, our human tongue need to be tamed, controlled. We have no choice but to control our tongue. Do not allow the devil to control and become its source.

C. Application: How to tame the tongue?
- As I reflect upon how to control our tongue based on the passage, I find that the following quote from someone is very useful to us. I feel that it helps us to tame our tongues. So here is the quote:
- Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
- You need to be extra careful with your tongue for your words become actions. What you say can affect what you do.
- Since the tongue is like a small rudder that can steer a big ship; like a small fire, the tongue can corrupt the whole person, sets the whole course of a person’s life on fire; and his life is set on fire by hell. The tongue can be so destructive to our lives.
- I strongly believe that our tongue must be guided and controlled by the word of God. So, how to control or tame the tongue?
- Firstly, our tongue must be guided by the word of God. What I mean is since words come from thoughts, so, our mind must be trained to allow God’s word to determine what we should speak. Normally, according to our human flesh and mind and our negative culture, we will always say the negative words like:
- Let me give you a piece of my mind! But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid speaking our mind. Take for instance, 1Peter 2:23, “When they hurled their insults at him (Jesus), he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
- You think you can outtalk me? But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid a quarrel. Take for instance, Proverbs 17:14 “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”
- I can’t worry about people’s feelings; I just say what’s on my mind. But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid hurting others. Take for instance, Colossians 4:6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
- It was only a little white lie. But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid lying. Take for instance, Psalm 101:7, “No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house.”
- My answer depends on whom I’m talking to. But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid being condemned by God. Take for instance, James 5:12, “Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No”, no or you will be condemned.
- You should give him a piece of your mind. But we must train ourselves to remind our mind to control our tongue to allow God’s word to counter it and so we avoid getting angry. Take for instance, Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
- Secondly, we need to cultivate this psychological habit of thinking twice before we say things. A Chinese proverbs says, you think 3 times before you act. I always find it very useful to think of the consequences of things I am going to say to my wife, children, church leaders and church members. I know when I get angry, and think of the hurts, the price I need to pay for the careless words, promises, etc. A lot of times, especially now as I get older, I choose not to say it out. But I say a prayer in my heart, God I leave it to you, you know what is the best, etc.

D. Conclusion. Can your tongue be used to serve the purpose of God?