James 3:1-12 ESV
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
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Never Underestimate the Power of the Tongue.
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The Tongue is Powerful – James 3:3-5a
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Proverbs 18:21 ESV
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
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Proverbs 25:15 ESV
15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
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The Tongue is Destructive – James 3:5b-6
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Psalm 141:3-4 ESV
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
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The Tongue is Uncontrollable – James 3:7-8
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Matthew 19:26 ESV
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
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Romans 3:13-14 ESV
13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
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The Tongue is Revealing – James 3:9-12
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Matthew 15:11 ESV
11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
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Matthew 15:17-19 ESV
17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
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Matthew 12:33-35 ESV
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
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Application:
We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ for good works. True faith in God is proven by our actions and love for others.
