The Power of the Tongue

James 3:1-10 talks about the power of the tongue, and the passage is a warning to control our words.

...if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man...but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  James 3:2b, 8

Every time I read those verses, I feel uncomfortable.  My mind remembers the times I've gossiped or spoken unkindly to someone, and I know I'm guilty.

But then, I don't like discomfort; I don't like feeling guilty, so I start to make excuses for myself - "What I said really wasn't that bad," or "She sinned against me first."  

The reality is...God's Word always convicts.  I am guilty.  But I can't stand it, can't and don't like to face my own sin, so I justify myself, my words, and my actions.  After all, I'm not really that bad, right?

Yeah - I know better.  

...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  1 Timothy 1:15

So where do I go and what do I do with my guilt, when I feel that discomfort, that sickness in the pit of my stomach that comes from facing my own sin.

In that same passage, James also says:

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.            James 3:10a 

I've always read that verse as a warning not to speak ill of another person or to another person.  

But wait.  Lest I forget...the tongue is also an instrument to speak blessings to people.  When Isaiah has a vision of God's throne, he says:

Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  Isaiah 6:5

Isaiah knows his guilt before God.  But then, Isaiah gets sent to preach to the people - to speak from his unclean lips.  For God has chosen to use us, to have us share the gospel message with others, from our sinful mouths.

The message of salvation comes from us sinners, and that seems foolish.  But Jesus said:

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."   Mark 16:15

  

And that gospel proclamation includes saying, "Jesus came, He lived, He died on the cross for your sins.  Your sins are forgiven.  Know that and believe it."  



And that's the real power of the tongue - to speak the gospel and the forgiveness of sins.  I need to hear the gospel message, to hear that my sins are forgiven, and I need to speak that truth to others!  

My prayer is, first to ask for help and strength to not gossip and not speak unkindly to others.  Second, to have the opportunity to share the gospel with others, and to tell them of the forgiveness of sins that comes thru the cross.