DO YOU PANT FOR GOD? DO YOU WANT A CHANGE OF HEART?
“…Take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry…if anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless” (James 1:19, 26).
We are instructed in the book of James to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry—this all boils down to controlling the tongue. Our words have a direct correlation with our own spirituality—if we don’t exhibit control over our tongues, we can render our religion of no value. We must ask the question—am I a teachable person? Do my words build up or do they tear others down?
James continues his treatment of the words that come out of our mouths by devoting almost all of chapter 3 to the topic. In verse 1, James warns people to be careful about their eagerness to be teachers because teachers are held to a stricter judgment. Perhaps they were impressed with the authority and prestige of the office and forgot about the tremendous responsibility a teacher has to guard his or her words. The church that James is writing to was full of small-minded people who gossiped about each other and tore one another apart with their tongues. Do you think we are a bit like that church today?
Taming the tongue involves high stakes. Your words can either bring life, or they can bring death to your spouse, your kids, your parents, your siblings, your relatives, your friends, your co-workers, and your neighbors. James connects sins of the tongue with sins of the body. He does this because our words usually lead to our deeds. The hardest sins to control are the sins of the tongue. A mature person is able to hold the most uncontrollable part of his human anatomy in check. See Proverbs 21:23 which says, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” The tongue remains hidden for the most part, but when it does make its presence known it has devastating power. The tongue can express or repress; release or restrain; enlighten or obscure; adore or abhor; offend or befriend; affirm or alienate; build or belittle’ comfort or criticize; delight or destroy; be sincere or sinister. The tongue can Xerox the good or x-ray the bad.
Just like a small spark can ignite an entire forest, so too, words that flow out of tongues can corrupt lives and shipwreck families. Words that are unleashed without thought can significantly affect and alter lives. Like a careless match thrown into dry grass, so our words can demolish people. We really need to watch our words, don’t we? Words can break our hearts. Broken bones can heal with time, but a broken spirit caused by words of death is not quickly repaired. Is your tongue quick to criticize? James is calling us to be consistent. What comes out of our mouths is a reflection of what is in our hearts. Your chances of blowing it with your words are directly proportional to the amount of time you spend with your mouth open. Abe Lincoln said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” It is important in our Christian life to build one another up and encourage one another. The Bible continuously reminds us to encourage one another with our words. Our words to others can energize them. Proverbs 12:25 says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”
Instead of blaming God under our trials, let us open our ears and hearts to learn what he teaches by them. And if men would govern their tongues, they must govern their passions. The worst thing we can bring to any dispute is anger. Here is an exhortation to lie apart, and to cast off as a filthy garment, all sinful practices. This must reach to sins of thought and affection, as well as of speech and practice; to everything corrupt and sinful. We must yield ourselves to the word of God, with humble and teachable minds being willing to hear of our faults, taking it not only patiently, but thankfully. It is the design of the word of God to make us wise to salvation; and those who propose any mean or low ends in attending upon it, dishonor the gospel, and disappoint their own souls.
When we talk too much and listen too little, we communicate to others that we think our ideas are much more important than theirs. James wisely advises us to reverse this process. Put a mental stopwatch on your conversations and keep track of how much you talk and how much you listen, when people talk with you, do they feel that their viewpoints and ideas have value?
These verses also speak of anger that erupts when our egos are bruised—“I am hurt;” “My opinions are not being heard.” When injustice and sin occur, we should become angry because others are being hurt. But we should not become angry when we fail to win an argument or when we feel offended or neglected. Selfish anger never helps anybody.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Have you done a heart check lately? If your heart is apathetic to God’s word, James says, “Be quick to hear.” If you’re prone to sprout off arrogantly with how much you know, James says, “Be slow to speak.” If you’re fighting some aspect of the word that you don’t like, James says, “Be slow to anger.” If you’re tolerating the horribleness of sin, James says, “Put aside all filthiness.” If you’re resisting God’s commands that are designed to rescue you from sin, James says, “In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
