October 19, 2012 – Day 12

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. ^[1]

Anybody having ever encountered a verbally abusive person knows full well just how damaging words can be. James compares the tongue to wild animals that pose challenges to the taming ability of humans. Though difficult all kinds have been tamed, but the tongue is the most challenging of all. Consider the things we are tempted to say, and sometimes do say, when we are angry or frustrated. Recall the times we have had to retract hurtful things we have said or wished that we could.

The problem is not just the damage that is done to relationships with one another, but also the damage done to our relationship with God. There are two things we are to do: love God and love one another, but our words betray us. With the same mouth we bless God and curse our sisters and brothers. If we love God it should be reflected in how we use our tongue. Unguarded speech also affects our witness. People know what we have said in the past and they also hear what we say in the present. When one does not agree with the other and we sound just like the world from which we say we have been redeemed it causes our witness to be minimalized and trivialized.

It is time to stop rationalizing our unguarded speech and acknowledge the incredible power of our words. When one has been truly redeemed it will be reflected in their language; in effect, their tongue will be tamed. I have met people who testified that when they came to Jesus they lost two thirds of their vocabulary and then there are others that have lost all credibility because they were no different from the world. So how do we begin to change the way we speak? Some would say what others have said to them, “If you cannot say anything good, then say nothing at all!” But I would suggest that we seek to speak and say only that which glorifies God and edifies others. Though a difficult feat to accomplish in the flesh, God can and will help us if we ask.

Dear Lord, You know full well the difficulty we have in bridling our tongues. We are guilty of saying hurtful and harmful things to all kinds of people including the ones we love. In our anger we have been more concerned about making our point and inflicting the same pain on others that we believe has been inflicted on us. We know the damage words have done to us and humbly repent of the times we have damaged others and betrayed our relationship with you. Help today to tame our tongues so that only that which glorifies you and builds up others is spoken. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.