CRCF””11/1/09
Taming Your Tongue
James 3:1-12
ME:
As a sophomore in High School, I weighed 125 lbs. soaking wet! And yet, I could sit atop a huge gelding, weighing about 1000-1200 lbs.””about 10 times my own weight””and, without much effort at all, cause that horse to move exactly according to my desires.
[Slides 1 & 2]
Was it that I could man-handle that horse”™s bulging muscles? No. I had a bit in that horse”™s mouth which enabled me to control that dude”™s entire body.
You and I have more in common with horses than you think.
Controlling your tongue is key in becoming more like Jesus.
WE:
Washington Irving: “The tongue is the only tool that grows sharper with constant use.”
Controlling your tongue is key in becoming more like Jesus.
Why is it important for us to understand this today?
So that we can have an effective starting point in trying to become more like Christ.
GOD:
Controlling your tongue is key in becoming more like Jesus.
James 3:1-12 (NLT)
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
James 3:2 (CEV)
2All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
Hughes: The uncontrolled tongue has a direct pipeline to Hell . . . It is ”˜full of deadly poison”™””“verbal cyanide” (139, 141).
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
Phillips: “it is a restless evil”””“it is always liable to break out”
9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can”™t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
Moo: “The teacher places himself in greater danger of judgment because the main tool of his ministry is also the part of the body most difficult to control: the tongue.” (120)
Proverbs 10:19 (NIV)
19 When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Matthew 12:34-37 (NLT)
34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.
James 1:19 (NLT)
Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God”™s sight.
James 1:26 (NLT)
If you claim to be religious but don”™t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
1 Peter 2:22-23a (NIV)
22″He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.
Controlling your tongue is key in becoming more like Jesus.
YOU:
Work on controlling your speech by trusting in your Father.
1 Peter 2:23b (NIV)
Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
If you can control your speech, other areas of life will follow.
James 3:2 (CEV)
2All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.
WE:
The Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986 because some little rubber rings weren”™t correctly placed. They were loose. Lives were lost and destroyed because of a very little thing. Similarly, how much damage have we done or has been done to us because somebody”™s tongue got loose? (Evans, 321).
Ephesians 4:17-32 [READ]
“A lady said to her pastor, ”˜I struggle with my tongue. I want to put my tongue on the altar.”™ He said, ”˜Our altar”™s not that big!”™” (Evans, 320).
But rest assured””God”™s grace in Jesus IS big enough to help us tame our tongues!
This morning, as we come to the Lord”™s Table, make a fresh commitment to trust God with your life and depend on the Holy Spirit for help to control your tongue.
Celebration of the Lord”™s Supper