The Power of the Tongue to Direct (James 3:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09-18-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The power of the Tongue to Direct

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  James 3:1-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 Dear brothers, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.  2 We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way.  3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.  4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.”  (NLT)  “1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.  2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.  3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”  (NIV)

            This starts another new section, and it is on the power of the tongue.  In the outline at the beginning of the book “Be Mature” Warren Wiersbe says that the mature believer has power over his tongue.

            In verse one James seems to be saying, at least between the lines, that there were many of his readers who wanted to be teachers, and he then explains to them that God will judge teachers with greater strictness.  In verse two James gets into more of what he wants to explain to his readers and that is about the tongue, and it seems to me that this is why he was telling his readers about a stricter judgment for teachers, and one of those judgments would have to do with not using the tongue correctly.  One of the questions in the study guide asks why are sins of the tongue connected with the whole body?  I think that the answer to this is given in verse two where James writes, “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”  I have heard it said many times at the Ford Plant, where I used to work, that a person should not let his mouth, (tongue) overload his backside.  This is another example of how the sins of the tongue can get the whole body in trouble.

            James uses the bit and the rudder to explain the power of a small thing like the tongue to control something larger.  The bit directs a large horse and the rudder directs a large ship.  Both the bit and the rudder must overcome contrary forces, and in the same way the tongue must overcome the contrary force of the flesh of a believer.  It must also control the circumstances around the believer.

            The tongue must be under a strong hand, just as the bit and the rudder are, in order that we have control over it.  That strong hand is the Lord Jesus Christ and if He is not in control of our tongues we will be much more apt to sin.  Proverbs 18:21 has this to say about the tongue, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”  David said this about the power of the tongue in Psalm 141:3-4a “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.”  David knew that the heart was what controlled the speech, as did the Lord Jesus who said, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

            The bit and the rudder also have the power to direct, as does the tongue.  An example of this is the power of the tongue to direct words of encouragement, and words that can change people’s lives, like telling them about the Saviour and then see there lives change because of Him invading their lives.

             In conclusion to this section it is good to remember that a believer who is mature will have his tongue in the control of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  I must conclude with what David says in Psalm 141:3-4a, “3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

4  Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil.”  Yes the tongue can cause much trouble and heartache for others and for myself if I do not guard it.

 

My Steps of Faith:  I want to give my tongue to the Lord Jesus Christ, once and for all, that He might control the words that it forms so that what ever I say may be pleasing to Him.