Tag: james

Last night we continued our series in the book of James.  We looked at James chapter 3.  As you dive into James 3 it would be easy to assess that the key idea from the text is to control your tongue or rather your speech. And I think that would be an accurate assessment although incomplete. As we dig a little deeper we see that while James 3 is mostly talking about the tongue, James is most concerned with the heart.

Chapter 3 starts with a clear and sobering message showing us the power of our words and how much they matter.

They have the power to:

• Discredit
• Direct
• To be Destructive
• To be Deceptive

James transitions in verse 10 as he references the inconsistency of how we often use our tongue. “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.” James ultimate point that he makes as he uses illustrations about fruit is that it is the heart that speaks, not the tongue. “Can a fig tree produce olives?”

Later in chapter 3, James gives us a list of what wise speech should look like.

The challenge is to test your tongue to see if your heart speaks these wise characteristics or if it speaks something else.

While your tongue took the test, it is your heart that is on trial.

We left students with the difficult question of, “Did my heart pass the test?”  Our speech can give us an indication as to where are heart really lives.  If your answer is no, the next question is why?

Did you heart fail because it is still dead to God and a slave to sin. If so you only need to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and new life. In Christ you are alive to God and a slave to righteousness not sin. The Holy Spirit will empower you to live out God’s call on your life and to use your tongue wisely.

See the Gospel message here: The Gospel.