October 18, 2012 – Day 11

3  Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ^[1]

The main subject of chapter three concerns the power of the tongue, but before James addresses that concern there are these two verses that seem to discourage one’s aspiration to teach. Though we cannot say with certainty why James begins this chapter in this way, it would seem plausible that he is simply giving his readers a practical illustration of the damage an unguarded tongue can cause in the body of believers. “Perhaps, indeed, unfit teachers were a major cause of the bitter partisan spirit (cf. 3:13–18), quarreling (4:1), and unkind, critical speech (4:11) that seemed to characterize the community.”^[2] Whatever the reason for the brief admonition it seems to be a fitting way to broach the subject of the tongue.

One of the greatest lies ever told was one we learned as children: “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” Words are powerful, providing the creative material to bring things into being. Note the damage that has been done to countless numbers of people simply by the words that were spoken over them. Note, also, the number of times our own situations have been made worse because we consistently spoke negativity into our situations. Those that study the workings of the brain maintain that the speech center has dominion over all the other nerve centers, so that when we speak signals are given to other parts of the body and those nerves move to come into conformity.

It does not seem that the tongue should or could be such a powerful instrument of destruction or creation, but it is. It is a raging fire set by hell itself. The writer of the book of Proverbs maintains that “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (18:21). Let us guard our tongue today.

Dear Father, we confess to careless use of our tongues. We are guilty of causing hurt and harm to those we love by our words. Instead of speaking life, we have spoken death. We are sorry for manner in which we have allowed ourselves to be seduced into being instruments of destruction. Help us today to speak life into every situation and to say those things that bring glory and honor to Your name. Amen.