The Tongue

But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:8

Let’s look at this passage for a moment; “but the tongue can no man tame”. In the previous verse James tells us “for every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea things is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind.” Simply put, man can and has been able to tame almost anything that walks, crawls, slithers and swims; he has man has this great ability to take a wild creature and break its will, bringing it under his control to the point that it obeys his every command. Yet, this same man has no ability in preventing his own tongue from running wild.

James also pens in verses 3-6: Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 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. We find no other scriptural dissertation in which so vivid a description of unmanageable evil and corruption is given to a specific part of our anatomy.

In the verse mentioned in the heading of this writing, he calls the tongue an unruly evil. The adjective “unruly” as used in this case means uncontrollable or unmanageable. Imagine this; the tongue is compared to “evil out of control”. And he doesn’t stop there. He then says it is full of deadly poison; not just dangerous, but “deadly”. In all seriousness, it doesn’t get much worse than that!

When we think about it, is it not the tongue that brings about most conflicts between two or more individuals or even two or more groups of individuals? I think it would be safe to say that just about all conflicts, including wars among nations, start with a loose tongue.

No one would ever think that we could actually kill, just by using words alone, but this is exactly what can and does happen regularly. The tongue that constantly spews bitterness can very well destroy any influence or love that one may have had for another. The old adage about “sticks and stones” is simply not true. Words can and do hurt, and just as badly, and in many cases worse, than any inflicted physical pain.

Sometimes it may seem as if the tongue has a mind of its own; especially when it begins its poisonous spray before we have time to hardly even think. But, what is actually happening is that the tongue is manifesting, or bringing to light, that which already dwells in the dark recesses of the heart. When someone says, “Oh, I really didn’t mean to say that”, you can pretty well know that they meant to say each and every word. The Bible teaches us, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh”. Again, the tongue is a revealer of what actually lies in the heart of the individual.

No, the tongue can no man tame, but our Lord does have the ability to bridle the tongue. He and He alone, can change persons’ conversations from destructive dialog to a soothing balm. He can take one who has the tendency to spew “deadly poison” and cause him to uplift and exhort his fellow man.

Let us seek the Lord’s help in controlling the tongue, for He alone can tame it. This is one petition with which I truly believe He will hear and give us aid, if we only ask in faith believing, desiring it the depths of our heart