In our last visit we referred to James 1:19, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In Chapter 3 of his book James explains the phrase, “slow to speak.”
It’s been said, “What you are speaks so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.” It’s also true, “What you say and how you say it reveals more about your true self than you might realize.” In reading over James 3:1-12 I decided to do a focus and amplify study of these verses.
The focus I came up with is, Transforming the Tongue. James amplifies this focus by giving us perspective regarding the tongue. Then he shows perplexing things resulting from the tongue. Third, he explains how power is released through the tongue. Let’s look at each of these points separately.
In giving perspective regarding the tongue James emphasizes how small in size the tongue is, but how significant its influence. He makes the astonishing statement that if the tongue is controlled this is tantamount to controlling every other area of your life. Though man is able to control a large horse with a small bit in its mouth and a large boat with a small rudder, he is not able to control his own tongue. He might be able to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea, but he can’t tame the tongue.
With that perspective in mind he shows the perplexing consequences resulting from having an uncontrolled or untamed tongue. He also shows the awesome power released through the tongue. We’ll look at these in our next visit.
