December 18th, 2024
This part of a series entitled, "When Double Is Trouble."
Wise and thoughtful gift-giving often requires research. A number of years ago, I was planning to give my son his first pocket knife, and I wanted to make sure it was both useful and safe as I trained him how to use a knife properly. I eventually landed on the Victorinox Junior, because it comes with some of the neat features of a Swiss Army Knife, and the main knife has a rounded edge (like a butter knife) to decrease the likelihood of accidents.
Fast-forward to today, my thirteen-year-old has multiple knives, axes, hatchets, and a machete, primarily utilizing them for our camping and backpacking trips. Over time, he’s learned how to use them carefully without causing harm to himself or others.
Every one of us has been given something even sharper than a pocket knife right from the beginning of our conscious lives. And even with the best training, it is often still used for great harm. I’m speaking, of course, of the tongue. Proverbs 12:18 says that “rash words are like sword thrusts.”
In James 3:5-6, the tongue is compared to a forest fire. A small fire, in no time at all, can cause widespread and long-lasting damage. Similarly, the tongue “defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell” (3:7).
But in this extended passage on the tongue, James is particularly concerned with the duplicity of the tongue. It shouldn’t surprise us when unbelievers speak in a way that displeases God and harms others. What’s problematic is when professing Christians use their tongue to sing God’s praises on Sunday and then tear their family members, co-workers, and other acquaintances apart all week long.
As ridiculous as James makes it sound, we have all witnessed this phenomenon. Perhaps we’ve been a victim of it. And, let’s be honest, we’re not completely innocent either. Earlier in the passage James levels with us, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (3:8).
Think about it: are you double-tongued? Did you attend worship this Sunday, sing great hymns and praise songs exalting God, then engage in slander, gossip, biting sarcasm, or impure speech hours or days later? Perhaps you belittled your child or another relative out of anger. Maybe you roasted a politician you don’t like. Or you engaged in gossip with some friends. Or you unnecessarily questioned the character and motives of an authority in your life.
James reminds us that every single person has been made in the image of God. To bless God then curse the image of God is fraudulent. Just like you can’t hold faith and favoritism together, you can’t combine blessing God and cursing His most prized creation.
We Christians, of all people, need to restore integrity, discipline, and consistency to our speech. We must remember that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), and rely on the Holy Spirit within us to guard our speech, using it to heal, not harm (Proverbs 12:18). And if you are guilty of being double-tongued, repent of this wickedness and experience the cleansing and forgiveness freely given by our Savior. Then commit to wholeness – and holiness – in your speech.
Wise and thoughtful gift-giving often requires research. A number of years ago, I was planning to give my son his first pocket knife, and I wanted to make sure it was both useful and safe as I trained him how to use a knife properly. I eventually landed on the Victorinox Junior, because it comes with some of the neat features of a Swiss Army Knife, and the main knife has a rounded edge (like a butter knife) to decrease the likelihood of accidents.
Fast-forward to today, my thirteen-year-old has multiple knives, axes, hatchets, and a machete, primarily utilizing them for our camping and backpacking trips. Over time, he’s learned how to use them carefully without causing harm to himself or others.
Every one of us has been given something even sharper than a pocket knife right from the beginning of our conscious lives. And even with the best training, it is often still used for great harm. I’m speaking, of course, of the tongue. Proverbs 12:18 says that “rash words are like sword thrusts.”
In James 3:5-6, the tongue is compared to a forest fire. A small fire, in no time at all, can cause widespread and long-lasting damage. Similarly, the tongue “defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell” (3:7).
But in this extended passage on the tongue, James is particularly concerned with the duplicity of the tongue. It shouldn’t surprise us when unbelievers speak in a way that displeases God and harms others. What’s problematic is when professing Christians use their tongue to sing God’s praises on Sunday and then tear their family members, co-workers, and other acquaintances apart all week long.
“With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:9-12).
Think about it: are you double-tongued? Did you attend worship this Sunday, sing great hymns and praise songs exalting God, then engage in slander, gossip, biting sarcasm, or impure speech hours or days later? Perhaps you belittled your child or another relative out of anger. Maybe you roasted a politician you don’t like. Or you engaged in gossip with some friends. Or you unnecessarily questioned the character and motives of an authority in your life.
James reminds us that every single person has been made in the image of God. To bless God then curse the image of God is fraudulent. Just like you can’t hold faith and favoritism together, you can’t combine blessing God and cursing His most prized creation.
We Christians, of all people, need to restore integrity, discipline, and consistency to our speech. We must remember that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), and rely on the Holy Spirit within us to guard our speech, using it to heal, not harm (Proverbs 12:18). And if you are guilty of being double-tongued, repent of this wickedness and experience the cleansing and forgiveness freely given by our Savior. Then commit to wholeness – and holiness – in your speech.
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