Reality: James 3:8 – “…no one can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
James 3:6 – “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”
Truths about the “Natural” Tongue
· First…it can corrupt the whole person.
o It is a “world of unrighteousness”, it “stains the whole body”…
· Second…it can set the whole course of life toward destruction.
o …it sets “on fire the entire course of life”
· Third… it can be the foothold of Satan’s influence in life
o …it is “set on fire by hell.”
“T”rain for Consistency.
James 3:2 – “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”
Unknown – “The tongue weighs practically nothing, but so few people can hold it.”
Suggested Exercise: Discipline
“R”esist Destructive temptations.
George Duncan - “To say what is untrue, what is unkind, or to say it unkindly, constitutes failure in Christian living and Christian witness.”
James 3:5 – “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!”
INSIGHT: “Bite your tongue”…a swollen tongue is better than a swollen head.
Suggested Exercise: Encouragement
“U”pgrade your control system.
Abraham Lincoln – “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”
Suggested Exercise: Silence
James 3:3-4 – “If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”
** To “Upgrade” ask…
1. “Am I in control of my emotions while I speak?”
2. “What is my motive in speaking?”
3. “How will this be helpful?”
4. “Would Jesus be saying the same thing in the same way?”
“E”dify!
Point: Your tongue reveals the true character of your heart.
Luke 6:45 – “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”
Bruce Barton – “For good or ill, your conversation is your advertisement. Every time you open your mouth you let men look into your mind.”
James 3:9-10 – “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
Suggested Exercise: Kindness
Point: Tone down the rhetoric…turn up the blessings.
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To work on T.R.U.E.ing my Tongue, I accept the “24-Hour Challenge” to not say any unkind, judgmental, slanderous or gossipy words to or about anyone for 24 hours… at a time.
Signed:
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