

I’ve been listening to a series of short sermons called “Taming the Tongue.” Did you know the Bible has a lot to say about the tongue? Though it is a small muscle, it has tremendous power. It can be helpful or hurtful. The words we say can be encouraging and uplifting. Or words can be really damaging. With our words, we hurt others to the point of destroying relationships. How many times have you said something in anger, and then wished you could take those words back?
The book of James in the New Testament is a really practical book, and one of his areas of concern was speech. In chapter 3, James gives three examples which provide vivid images of the power and danger of the tongue. First, James uses the example a bit, which is part of a horse’s bridle. The bit is super-small compared to the size of the horse, right? But that little bit is the way the movement of the horse is controlled (James 3:3). A second example draws a similar comparison: a ship and its rudder. Though small, the rudder controls the direction of the much larger ship its attached to (James 3:4). The tongue has the same ability to control us, with words often determining our future. Trashy, crude, belligerent speech generates a different response than friendly words. Harsh words, profanity, vulgar language—it turns people off. Mean words cut deep. They leave scars.
I think James third illustration is the most powerful. He compares the tongue to a fire (James 3:5). A tiny spark is all that’s needed to start a fire, and in the certain conditions, a small fire can develop quickly into a huge, roaring, destructive fire, spreading, getting larger and larger, spewing smoke high into the sky, and destroying everything in its path. Likewise, the words we speak quickly inflict hurt that has lasting impact. Here’s why. Memory. Words don’t just vanish into thin air. Damaging words remain in our memories—things I say, I remember. Things that have been said to me, I remember. There are hurtful words my dad said to me years and years ago that I’ve never forgotten. Our memories of words spoken by and to us are like smoke from a fire; just as clothes from a house fire smell like smoke forever, words never go away. That’s the dangerous power of the tongue.
So there are two points here. 1) Control your tongue. Your speech directly influences your relationships with everyone you know. Do you speak kind words or do you use speech to insult, hurt, curse? You have the ability to control your words. 2) Forgive. We all say things we wish we hadn’t. Jesus came to save sinners—which includes every person in the world—because we all sin. He offers forgiveness to those who repent and believe in His Name and accept Him as Lord and Savior. In the same spirit of forgiveness, the only way to live with one another is with a spirit of forgiveness and grace. No one is perfect. Even as we do our best to keep our tongues under control, we will fail. Be willing to forgive others and to do so quickly. Remember, you probably need them to forgive you too. If you need a Bible let me know.