Taming the Tongue
1cNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For dwe all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ehe is a perfect man, fable also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put gbits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet hit boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And ithe tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, jstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, kfull of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people lwho are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
The Power and Danger of the Tongue
James 3:3–12 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 35:56 • ID: 2582
A Warning to Would-Be Teachers
James 3:1–2 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 33:18 • ID: 2581
The Use and Abuse of Words
James 3:1–12 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 34:04 • ID: 2924
11mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or njudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Footnotes
- 4 4:11 Or brothers and sisters
James: His Desire for the Churches
James 4:11–27, James 5:1–20 Sermon • 49:04 • ID: gs1345
A Study in James, Volume 3
Warnings against Worldliness James 4:1–5:6 Series • ID: 15903Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.