The Power of the Tongue

James - The Power of the Tongue

We are in week 3 of our series, “James, a Faith that Works.”

The first two weeks we talked about being doers of the Word and not just hearers.

Last week we talked about faith without works is dead which I felt led to address the question about eternal security.

Today we are going to start at the beginning of chapter 3.

I’m sure you’ve noticed James’ theme throughout this book.

He is constantly talking about how believers should live as followers of Jesus Christ.

That’s why he stressed the importance of faith without works is dead.

Chapter 3 is no different.

The first half of this chapter he talks about the power of the tongue (or our words)

There’s a saying that we’ve all heard that say, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

How many of you know that statement is a lie?!

Words can be extremely harmful.

Because words are extremely powerful

James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their 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. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

I find it interesting that James starts this section off with encouraging some of the people to NOT teach the word.

You see James knew there was a problem in the church.

People looked at the teachers as being of this higher status.

They thought something special about them.

So people wanted that position.

A lot of people feel that way today.

And James is saying, don’t be so quick to want this role.

Teachers are judged MORE strictly by God than others.

So you better make sure you are living for the Lord and you are speaking the truth.

Because any charismatic person can “TEACH”.

But that also means they can easily deceive people.

And God DOES NOT take that lightly!

That’s why I take what I do so seriously.

And that’s why I live my life a certain way.

And I want to be the best example I can be.

James goes on to talk about examples of how powerful the tongue is.

He gives 3 examples

He talks about a bit you put in a horses mouth

A rudder of a ship

And a spark that can light a forest fire.

I love the example of the spark.

Think about it. I have a lighter here.

This little flame seems harmless.

But how many of you know this little flame has the power to light this whole church on fire.

Story of friend’s house burning down.

Who would’ve thought a spark from a firecracker would completely burn a house down?

James isn’t the only one in the Bible to talk about the POWER of your words.

Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Your words can make or break someone

Just think about how you feel when someone gives you a compliment.

Compare that to when people say hurtful things to you.

Proverbs 12:18 “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

We talked about this a couple weeks ago when we were discussing being quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.

When you are reckless and harsh you escalate situations.

When you are wise and gentle you can bring healing.

Proverbs 15:4 “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

1 Peter 3:10 “For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”

You don’t even have to say something to someone’s face for it to have a major impact on their life.

GOSSIP can do just as much damage as saying something cruel to someone’s face.

Proverbs 16:28 “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”

All it takes is one lie to destroy a friendship.

Proverbs 20:19 “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.”

Don’t hang around people who gossip.

Gossip destroys lives!

How can anyone TRUST you if they know you’re going to go tell the world their business.

Your words can destroy someone.

They say 90% of young people who commit suicide have some sort of mental illness at the time.

Depression is the #1 illness that they would have.

Verbal abuse is a major cause of depression.

Nowadays through social media we can WRITE things that are just as hurtful and effective.

Cyber bullying has become HUGE in our culture now

It’s so much easier to sit behind a screen and say all the things you want when nobody is standing by you to confront you.

This is why studies out there show that middle school students with a social media account have a higher level of stress and anxiety than those that don’t. ESPECIALLY GIRLS.

Why? Because students just sit and say awful things to each other.

If you don’t think that what you says matters, and we don’t have any kind of power through our words, just take a look at some stories in the Bible.

Let’s start in Genesis 1 where we see the creation of the universe.

In verse 2 it talks about how the earth was formless and empty.

Genesis 1:3 NIV “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

God could’ve chosen any way to create the world.

He chose to use his WORDS as the tool to create.

Just look at a couple examples of the miracles Jesus did.

Mark 4:39 NKJV “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”

He didn’t just wave his hand at the storm.

He SPOKE to it and said “PEACE, BE STILL”!

I wonder how many people are still in the middle of a storm because they’re just sitting back talking about all the bad things happening in their life?

Instead of speaking PEACE over their life!

I’m a firm believer that we make our storms bigger because of the way we speak.

Whenever we talk about our life to someone we always focus on how bad our life is.

How many of you know someone like that?

It’s the people that when you first see them and ask how they’re doing they say, “well I’m still alive.”

And then they go on to tell you about how bad things are in their life right now.

Instead of speaking LIFE into their life and saying something like, “I have some issues in my life right now but I’m thankful that God is bigger than my situation and that he is a God that gives us peace that surpasses all understanding and I’m going to walk in that peace. The devil’s trying to bring me down and discourage me but God said to cast all my cares and anxieties on Him because he cares for me, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Some people are speaking depression over their life.

Instead of speaking joy and peace and victory!

Just because I say something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen for sure.

But by me speaking it I’ve added the extra power it might need to come true.

This is where the enemy comes it to twist the Word of God

Because the devil knows how powerful your words are so if he can get you to doubt the truth about our words it’s a win for him.

So for example, Matthew 21:22 “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

So we take that as, whatever I ask God for he will give me.

This is where the name it and claim comes from.

“I claim in the name of Jesus I’m going to be a millionaire.”

The enemy wants you to think that if you just pray or claim anything that you’ll get it.

1 John 5:14-15 NIV “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

James 4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Matthew 21 and other scriptures that talk about receiving what you pray for are under the assumption you are praying within the context of God’s will.

Look at how Jesus TOLD us to pray

Matthew 6:9-10 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The problem is we pray and ask things according to OUR will and what WE want to see done.

But Jesus says we need to pray in accordance to HIS will.

And when we do that he uses our words as a vehicle to bring life into our situation.

There is life and death in the power of the tongue.

What’s coming out of your mouth.

How do you speak about your job?

How do you speak about your KIDS?

I have to catch myself sometimes on how I speak about my kids.

Because it’s easy to look at your children and say things like, “they are so stubborn and disobedient. I’m dreading when they become teenagers because they are going to be a handful.”

And I’ve had to catch myself and say “NO, my kids are going to turn their stubbornness for GOD, and they are going to lead their friends to him. They’re going to use that strong personality for HIS Kingdom.”

Do you realize the devastation parents have caused their kids because of the words they’ve spoken over AND to them.

If you want to destroy your kids self confidence and cause severe depression for your kids…

Just tell them they’re worthless.

Tell them how much of a failure they are and how they are hopeless.

It hurts extra worse when those closest to you SPEAK that way.

We need to be lifting our children up.

Encouraging them.

That doesn’t mean we coddle them and can’t ever correct them when they do something wrong.

But it means that we are always loving and telling them how proud of them we are.

Kids are desperate for the approval of their parents.

SO TELL THEM!

James ends this part of the passage by going back to the idea of our works showing our faith.

James 3:9-12 NIV “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Again, he is saying how as a believer can we praise God but curse people?

It doesn’t make sense.

If you are someone who is constantly speaking terribly about other people and to other people, James is saying, something is wrong.

Something is not right in your relationship with God.

He’s coming back to something that Jesus even talked about which is that you will know people by their fruit.

Your words are part of that fruit.

So do your words produce good fruit or bad fruit?

YOUR TALK SHOULD MATCH YOUR WALK!

Church this morning my goal is very simple.

I want you to understand the POWER you have with your words.

It’s the power of life and death.

I want you to evaluate your life and ask yourself, what have I been doing with this power?

How can I bring LIFE into my life with my words?

Just try it for a week or two and see if you feel a difference.

Altar call.