Week 20: Day 3

Intro: Hi guys we are midweek now with James 3 and I hope we have been challenged so far, lets read a few verses more together.

Bible: James 3:9-12 says:

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

Thoughts: Did you know that the tongue is one of the strongest muscles we have in our whole body? That’s because we use it so much to talk! Did you know that you speak between 18 to 25 thousand words a day? That’s 18000 for guys and 25000 for ladies! The tongue is an amazingly complex thing.

Nothing reveals the heart of someone more than their tongue. James actually mentions the tongue in every chapter, which I didn’t realise until I was researching for Orbit! He mentions it twice in chapter 1, verses 19 and 26. He mentions it in chapter 2, verse 12. He mentions it in chapter 4, verse 11. He mentions it in chapter 5, verse 12, and of course our chapter 3 this week James deals specifically with the matter of the tongue.

The tongue provides the evidence of what your heart really is – very, very important. The new birth, regeneration, makes you a new creation; and part of being a new creation is new speech. Christians talk differently than other people talk – not perfect, but certainly different. Listen to what the apostle Paul said in Colossians 3. “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Paul says you have died, and you have a new life hidden with Christ in God. Therefore, with your new life, you are to set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth. Now that you are a believer, you have a new heart. Now that you have a new heart, you must have a new behaviour. The new believer in Christ has a new mouth, has a new tongue!

The Lord Jesus came into the world to bear the judgment of God against the sin of our tongues. When he stood before the high priest and the judgment seat of Pontius Pilate, he accepted a sentence of guilt. But that was my guilt. He bore in his body on the tree the sins of my lips and my tongue.

Prayer: Do you wish you could control your tongue better? Do you want to follow the example of Jesus? Let's say together, you can repeat after me, and we will have some silence afterwards just to reflect and be still.

God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I thank you that Jesus came and was silent in order that he might bear the penalty of all my misuse of my tongue.

Silence: And now a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.

Action: Ask God to help you identify and speak to someone today who you can pray for, who could really do with positive words being spoken to them as means of encouragement. Continue to pray for this person that God would speak to them.

Outro: Thanks for joining me again everyone and come back tomorrow as we conclude James 3. God bless!