The best teachers/leaders can captivate, inspire, and motivate us with their speech. Our most respected pastors have the ability to craft sermons and deliver them with such aplomb that we are moved to hear Christ himself. Their ability to share wisely is correlated to their ability to control, or bridle their tongue. James goes on to teach on the ability to move ships and horses through the smallest of apparatus. So it is with the tongue, and not just for leaders in the front. This goes for those who speak/lead at any level. How such a relatively small part of the body can control the direction of a person’s life and ministry.
James wanted his readers to understand that their persecution did not give them the right to throw off restraints. They did not now have the right to speak in any manner they felt like. What persecution gave was the opportunity for them to show the difference that following the Way of Christ made in their lives. Many of us fail to be true witnesses to the power of God because of the way we talk to others. Whether it is the words we use, or the jokes we tell, many a testimony is undercut by this little medium of the tongue.
For the tongue to be tamed in our lives we must first recognize that we are accountable for what we say and take that seriously. That was the reason people desired the position of teacher, because folks would listen to them. this is no small thing. Secondly, for the tongue to be tamed we have to recognize it’s power. Proverbs reminds us that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). In southern California we are more than aware of what a single spark can do. Imagine the damage of an unbridled tongue?
Prayer focus
- Is your tongue a problem?
- Ask for help in how you talk to others
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to bridle your unruly member!