James 3:5-8

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

 “Watch your mouth! I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap.”

I guess I may be showing my age with the “wash your mouth out with soap” phrase.

I did get the soap in the mouth treatment by my mom one time when I was a kid. I think she reserved it for cussing, and I knew better than to cuss in front of my mom or dad.

James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, spends the majority of chapter 3 of his epistle railing against the tongue. How such a little member of our body can cause so much trouble for us.

Besides foul language, the tongue gets us into trouble in all kinds of ways. Lying, gossip, boasting, exaggerating, bearing false witness, and saying things that may be true to deliberately hurt someone.

When we say and do these things, we are breaking the commandment of Jesus to love others. It is evil.

One of the biggest lies in the history of the world is: “Sticks and stones may bread my bones but words will never hurt me.”

My parents and grandparents taught me this, and I taught my kids the same.

But, one day after I saw how upset one of my girls was because of something another girl had said to her at school, I thought, what a bunch of bunk we’re teaching!

Words do hurt! I thought back on my childhood, and I wish I had been punched in the nose instead of some of the terrible things that were said to me back then. I still remember those hurtful words today. To be honest, I also remember some things I have said to hurt others. I so wish I could take them back, but I can’t.

James gives a couple of noteworthy metaphors here to help us understand the danger the tongue presents.

He says that the tongue is a little member but look what a little fire can do. We see this on the news today with the wildfires out west. One little spark can start a fire that can destroy whole towns and millions of acres of land. One little offhand remark by someone can destroy relationships and cause hurt that will last a lifetime.

The tongue is also full of deadly poison. Deadly poison kills. Your tongue has the ability to kill fellowship, kill relationships, and kill the peace in a community or church.

James 3 contains the longest continuous passage of scripture on the tongue, but the Bible is replete with other examples.

Proverbs 15:28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

Proverbs 26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.

 The pictures here are similar to James. The mouth of the wicked pours out evil. And gossip or tales can spread like a wildfire unless you stop adding fuel to the fire.

Lying and gossip are commonly cited as evil that the tongue pours out.

Thou shalt not bear false witness is actually more serious than it may sound. When you lie about someone, you are stealing or sometimes killing their reputation. That’s serious business. You could ruin someone’s reputation for the rest of their lives by a telling a lie about them.

This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain, although there are some that dispute it.

“A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on.”

Gossip is a sin that is especially insidious in a community or a church.

There’s an old folktale about a young man who was spreading gossip about the town’s wise man. Soon, however, the young man was convicted in his heart of this wrong and went to visit the wise man.

He asked the wise man to forgive him, and the wise man said he would, on one condition.

The young man had to go home, take a feather pillow from his house, go outside, cut it up, dump all the feathers on the ground, and then return to the wise man’s house.

He agreed and thought he had gotten off pretty easily with this simple task.

When he returned to the wise man’s house, after completing the task, the wise man said, “Just one more thing. Go back home and pick up all the feathers you dumped outside.”

The young man said, “That’s impossible! The wind will have blown them all away.”

The wise man said, “You are correct. When you spread gossip, you can never take it back, because it is like the feathers. Even now, the tale you told is continuing to spread like the feathers in the wind.”

On the other hand, there is a positive side to the tongue, if you follow God’s instruction.

Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Two lessons here. Most of the time you are better off keeping your mouth shut.

There is a saying: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

If you do speak, though, speak as the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. Speak with wisdom and kindness.

Jesus teaches us about the “heart” of the problem with the tongue.

Matthew 12:34-37 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Jesus says that if you speak evil things, what you actually have is a heart problem.

It’s out of an evil heart that evil things are spoken. A good man brings good things out of a good heart.

James also teaches this at the end of chapter 3.

James 3:14-17 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

If you have a heart problem and your tongue reflects it, pray to our Father in heaven that He will give you wisdom that is from above that your speech will be gentle, kind, full of mercy, full of grace, and will bring peace.

May God Bless You.