“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell”(James 3:6).
TEXT — James 3:6-13
A Greek philosopher asked his servant to provide the best dish possible. The servant prepared a dish of tongue, saying: “It is the best of all dishes, because with it we may bless and communicate happiness, dispel sorrow, remove despair, cheer the fainthearted, inspire the discouraged,and say a hundred other things to uplift mankind.” Later, the philosopher asked his servant to provide the worst dish of which he could think. A dish of tongue appeared on the table again. When asked to explain, the servant said, “It is the worst, because with it, we may curse and break human hearts; destroy reputations; promote discord and strife; set families, communities, and nations at war with each other.” What a paradox!
James, the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, employed a cocktail of metaphors to describe the power of the tongue. He compared it to a wildfire out of control, reducing to ashes much valuable properties.The tongue can do so much damage within a very short time. He used the art of taming wild animals too to illustrate the difficulty of controlling the tongue, which is impossible to tame by human efforts alone. He further alluded to the danger of a little poison that can kill just by applying a little quantity. He then went to nature, to drive home the lesson about how the believer’s tongue must be consistent in its effect. He compared it to a fountain that should not produce both sweet and bitter water, and a tree, which by nature should produce only one species of fruit. He concluded by highlighting the great virtue of speaking wisely, backed up by humility and gentleness.
The danger caused by a loose tongue is incalculable. Hate speech was responsible for the Rwandan genocide that killed between 500,000 to 800,000 people. Some people have reportedly committed suicide due to bullying and negative words spoken to them at the time when they were emotionally and mentally challenged.
The big lesson here is about weighing our words before speaking out. The only words that can be controlled are the ones not yet spoken. It takes real conversion and circumcision of the heart to bring the tongue under control.
Thought for the day
The tongue feels better when words are well weighed and few.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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