Practical Living, Part 6-Self Control, James 3:2-12

INTRO: Rumors; Yakkity Yak; Talk too Much.

You talk too much, you worry me to death... You talk about people that you don't know... You talk about people that you've never seen, You talk about people, you can make me scream. You just talk, you talk too much.

There’s nothing worse than a person who’s tongue is out of control.

James wants believers in Christ to understand that a key to Practical Living is Talk less, smile more. That’s a sign of Self -Control.

Pro 16.32 “Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.”

Pro 25.28 “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” Broken Refrigerator.

So Self-Control is a thing to be desired. Tongue=Speech.

Eph 4.29 “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

1 Pe 3.10 “For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.”

SELF-CONTROL IS A ESSENTIAL - V.2

E - He says “If we could control our tongues we could control ourselves in every other way.”

This is not referring to a person who little to say. SELF CONTROL describes the character of the Christian.

R - Self Control = fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23 “22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

A - Ps 19.14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

ESSENTIAL TO THE BODY OF CHRIST - This is why christ encourages us to deal with conflict right away; don’t let the seed settle in your heart for an explosion.

In order to refrain from abusive language; speak words of encouragement; speak words that are acceptable to the Lord…Self-Control is a necessity.

SELF CONTROL IS EFFECTIVE - VS. 3-4

E - James uses common items to illustrate his point…just like his brother Jesus.

R - Bit/Horse; under the tongue; controls the whole animal. So, controlling the tongue means controlling the whole body. But the horse is control by the rider.

Rudder/Ship; gives direction to big ships; without a rudder the whole ship is tossed with the winds and waves. But with a rudder the whole ship is guided through the storms.

A - Like the horse and the ship, you have to know that unless the HS is the bit; or the rudder; you don’t have the correct GUIDANCE that GOD designed.

v.5-6 - Powerful and Perverse; Influential and Infectious

The tiny spark of out-of-control, the tongue, starts a raging forest fire. Oakland Hills Fire - Saturday, Oct. 19, 1991with a small brush fire that firefighters extinguished... But a tiny spark reignited the next morning and became an inferno. 1,500 firefighters and 450 ; 2.5 square miles of mostly residential neighborhoods. 25 people were killed and 150 injured. destroyed 3,469 homes and apartment units and 2,000 automobiles. 10k people were evacuated.

Self-Control is EFFECTIVE when it saves the lives of many; affected; devastated.

SELF-CONTROL IS EARNEST -vs. 7-12

Lassie. Animals can be tamed....but watch this…You know when a person does NOT have Self-Control because their tongue is not EARNEST-having a single purpose of sincerity.

vs. 9-12 - Praise the Lord then Curse you out; Glorifies God then tears down a brother or a sister;

See, when you Praise God, then tear down someone, you’re out of control because you don’t know what you’re really doing. You are tearing down, criticizing, DESTROYING the very IMAGE OF GOD.

Now, some say, “I’m only telling the truth” but who are you telling? What are you telling? how are you telling? (In love); Why are you telling?

If you’re saying something that’s comical, but causes harm or embarrassment, DON’T SAY IT...

Because fresh water and bitter water don’t come out the same fountain...

Fig trees don’t produce olives…know the tree by the fruit it bears.

grapevines don’t produce figs...

And an EARNEST believer with Self-Control produces...

Less Stress - Phil 4.6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

Patience - Gal 6.9 “9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Temptation - 1 Pe 1:14 “14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.”

Example - JESUS - lived a sinless life; carried out the Father’s will; loved His enemies - Matthew 26:53-54, Jesus says, “Put your sword away. Do you know I can call on my Father, and He will at once send more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus defeated His own fears; 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Submitted to the Father’s will. Without the self-control of Jesus, we would face death as the punishment of our sin.

CLOSE: Self-Control. 5 steps to follow

Step 1. Renew your mind through God’s Word.

Step 2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help.

Step 3. Confess your habits to God and others.

Step 4. Identify and remove your triggers.

Step 5. Remember the gospel when you fail. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Self Control is ESSENTIAL, EFFECTIVE, AND EARNEST.

While it may seem challenging, the rewards will be great.