"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." James 3: 6-10
Let that description of the human tongue roll around in your head for a while. Not a very pleasant description there. The tongue is described as a fire, full of deadly poison, untamed, and that it can corrupt the whole body. We can do a lot of damage with our tongue and words.
There's a reason that I don't sing very loud during worship. Over twenty years ago, after church, a friend of mine took me aside and told me I sung horribly. Even this many years later, those words continue to sting. Though I have not remained friends with this person (due to time and distance), I still make a conscious decision to not sing loudly. I used to joke with my former pastor who told me that God was tone-deaf. I would reply with that people were not, and thus I was not called to harm them with my awful singing. It's not the end of the world, but those words have scarred me years later.
There's also a man I deeply respect who was told years ago that he didn't have a nice smile. To this day, he admits, that he restrains from smiling fully even in great joy because he believes what was told him.
Now, these seem tame in the big picture. But, words have a powerful effect on people. This is why we are warned several times in the bible about the power of the tongue. Even, when these words come from friends.
It being described as fire is very appropriate. Think of everything you associate with fire. Fire, once unleashed, can rage uncontrollably, causing damage in its wake. Fires are hard to contain. Look at how wildfires rage on the news. Acres can be destroyed in hours. Fires can start from a small place, like a match, and consume larger amounts of area. Fires can be extremely deadly.
That's the way our words can be. The smallest word, the tiniest utterance can create a raging firestorm. Burning and hurting those around us. And sometimes, it's not even the obvious hurtful phrases we say to each other. Like the two examples I gave, I am certain there wasn't malicious intent (maybe they were joking), but they did burn people.
"Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity" Proverbs 21:23
We even burn ourselves with the use of our tongues. We say things we later regret. And in this day of the internet, what we say can be recorded for posterity. Following us for a long, long, time. How many celebrities and politicians do you know that have been haunted by statements from years past. It is absolutely the same for each of us.
That is why we must be guarded in what we say to each other. As James points out, we are good at spewing blessings and curses from our mouths. Even in our "harmless" joking, we can unknowingly affect someone with our words. You can say that maybe we are too sensitive and people should get a thicker skin. Perhaps. But, we should determine whether we are saying something that blesses someone. Rather than tearing someone down and burning them up.
This isn't to say we should withhold speaking truth to someone even if it might sting. There's going to be times where people are going to be upset by what we say. Look at Jesus and His disciples. They said a lot of truthful things and people reacted harshly. There's a difference between blessing people with the truth and outright hurting them. We just have to make sure we know the difference.
Words are very powerful weapons. With them, we can inspire. Other times, we can make people think. Sadly, we can use them to harm. It is why we need to guard our tongues. As I have said, years later, I am still affected by the words of others both in a positive and negative light.
Fires can warm, fires can melt and shape, fires can consume and burn things to ash. We need to know when to use our tongues and when best to speak. It is up to us what kind of fire we will be. We have been given a powerful weapon with our tongues. We just have to learn to wield it wisely.
Let that description of the human tongue roll around in your head for a while. Not a very pleasant description there. The tongue is described as a fire, full of deadly poison, untamed, and that it can corrupt the whole body. We can do a lot of damage with our tongue and words.
There's a reason that I don't sing very loud during worship. Over twenty years ago, after church, a friend of mine took me aside and told me I sung horribly. Even this many years later, those words continue to sting. Though I have not remained friends with this person (due to time and distance), I still make a conscious decision to not sing loudly. I used to joke with my former pastor who told me that God was tone-deaf. I would reply with that people were not, and thus I was not called to harm them with my awful singing. It's not the end of the world, but those words have scarred me years later.
There's also a man I deeply respect who was told years ago that he didn't have a nice smile. To this day, he admits, that he restrains from smiling fully even in great joy because he believes what was told him.
Now, these seem tame in the big picture. But, words have a powerful effect on people. This is why we are warned several times in the bible about the power of the tongue. Even, when these words come from friends.
It being described as fire is very appropriate. Think of everything you associate with fire. Fire, once unleashed, can rage uncontrollably, causing damage in its wake. Fires are hard to contain. Look at how wildfires rage on the news. Acres can be destroyed in hours. Fires can start from a small place, like a match, and consume larger amounts of area. Fires can be extremely deadly.
That's the way our words can be. The smallest word, the tiniest utterance can create a raging firestorm. Burning and hurting those around us. And sometimes, it's not even the obvious hurtful phrases we say to each other. Like the two examples I gave, I am certain there wasn't malicious intent (maybe they were joking), but they did burn people.
"Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity" Proverbs 21:23
We even burn ourselves with the use of our tongues. We say things we later regret. And in this day of the internet, what we say can be recorded for posterity. Following us for a long, long, time. How many celebrities and politicians do you know that have been haunted by statements from years past. It is absolutely the same for each of us.
That is why we must be guarded in what we say to each other. As James points out, we are good at spewing blessings and curses from our mouths. Even in our "harmless" joking, we can unknowingly affect someone with our words. You can say that maybe we are too sensitive and people should get a thicker skin. Perhaps. But, we should determine whether we are saying something that blesses someone. Rather than tearing someone down and burning them up.
This isn't to say we should withhold speaking truth to someone even if it might sting. There's going to be times where people are going to be upset by what we say. Look at Jesus and His disciples. They said a lot of truthful things and people reacted harshly. There's a difference between blessing people with the truth and outright hurting them. We just have to make sure we know the difference.
Words are very powerful weapons. With them, we can inspire. Other times, we can make people think. Sadly, we can use them to harm. It is why we need to guard our tongues. As I have said, years later, I am still affected by the words of others both in a positive and negative light.
Fires can warm, fires can melt and shape, fires can consume and burn things to ash. We need to know when to use our tongues and when best to speak. It is up to us what kind of fire we will be. We have been given a powerful weapon with our tongues. We just have to learn to wield it wisely.
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