ESV James 3:1-12
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look 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. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Questions for Reflection
1. If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?
2. How do you react when you hear someone cursing and using abusive language?
3. How can a person be hurt by the words of others?
4. What can you learn about a person by listening to him or her speak?
5. If a person were never at fault in what he or she said, what would that show about the person? (3:2)
6. What is significant about the way we talk? (3:2)
7. What is so difficult about taming the tongue? (3:7-8)
8. How is our speech influenced by others around us?
9. What practical advice would you give someone who wanted to control his or her tongue better?
10. What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?
