James: Faith That Works Part 11
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My words matter.
My words matter.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
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.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
Why do my words matter? Because words are powerful!
Words are powerful.
Words are powerful.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
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.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
James 3
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James makes a couple of analogies to help us understand that might sometimes comes in small packages.
Horses and Ships - These things are big and bulky but are controlled by something small.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
The tong i read is less than half a percent of the total body weight.
Who measures these things and how in the world do
I must be careful.
I must be careful.
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Church leaders have a greater responsibility.
Church leaders have a greater responsibility.
Church leaders have a greater accountability.
Church leaders have a greater accountability.
Why must I be so careful?
The fire that happened in Dothan on East. Sonders Rd. - Because things was so desperatly dry that any spark could produce an unbelievable raging fire.
Words are uncontrollable.
Words are uncontrollable.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
6 And 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.
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James message is this you can’t change you! No matter how hard you try - you will fail.
Christianity is not behavior modification.
Christianity is not behavior modification.
Words are windows to the heart.
Words are windows to the heart.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
9
The tongue is something of a spiritual barometer: it shows us what is really going on inside.
Sam Allberry
Christianity is about heart transformation.
Christianity is about heart transformation.
Allberry, Sam. James For You: Showing you how real faith looks in real life (God's Word For You) (p. 97). The Good Book Company. Kindle Edition.
More than anything else the tongue shows what type people we are.
My words
The New Bible Commentary 3:1–12 The Evil in the Tongue
In James’s day the king or emperor would set up his statue in the cities of his realm. If anyone insulted or cursed the statue, they were treated as if they had cursed the emperor to his face, for the statue was the image of the emperor. Therefore the insulting of a person, made in God’s image, is like insulting God himself. This duality, two different and contradictory words coming out of the same mouth, is a type of hypocrisy.
In James’s day the king or emperor would set up his statue in the cities of his realm. If anyone insulted or cursed the statue, they were treated as if they had cursed the emperor to his face, for the statue was the image of the emperor. Therefore the insulting of a person, made in God’s image, is like insulting God himself. This duality, two different and contradictory words coming out of the same mouth, is a type of hypocrisy.