Taming the tongue ! I struggle with not only speaking kind words ,but keeping the focus on anything but me . Also setting an example of wisdom and peace can be difficult. Yet I know God can and will help me when I ask . I just love the book of James. So much there !
We had a Sermonette quite a while ago in 2015 that used the word Think as an acronym… Is what I am about to say:
T – Is it True
H – Is it Helpful
I – Is it Inspiring
N – Is it Necessary
K – is it Kind
My goal in reading this chapter is to focus on who and what I should be with the help of the powerful Spirit living within me…
“James 3:17-18
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace”.
Hopefully then by striving to be peaceful, merciful and growing in the Fruit of the Spirit I will also, therefore, learn when and how to speak and when and how to keep silent because at times I am very impulsive and must get back to thinking things through not just blurt out what is on my mind in a given moment.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
That’s a lie. I’d rather be physically beaten than verbally assaulted. Physical wounds heal with time. Verbal wounds stay with you for the rest of your life. You forgive, but the verbal wounds don’t go away. They resurface when you’re vulnerable and they carry the same pain as the first time you heard them.
Verses 9-10 always resonate with me about not only about our speech, but what’s in our hearts and mind: “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.”
Everyone is made in the image of God. There may be behavior that is wrong – even egregiously wrong – that we don’t tolerate, but we love (agape) everyone because God has a plan for them, too. We don’t demonize or diminish or disparage anyone. We don’t call them names that are derogatory and demeaning (I hear a lot of this, even among the ekklesia). We don’t hate anyone.
I think about a couple of things. The lawyer in the parable of the good Samaritan asked Jesus Christ who his neighbor was. The answer: everyone! I also think about the future. God’s plan is for every human being to ultimately be in His family. How would we feel if the people we curse today are our spiritual brothers and sisters for eternity? It’s sobering.
Finally, I read the last several verses of James 3 often. Earthly wisdom (envy – or jealousy – and self-seeking) versus godly wisdom (pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy). I always want God’s wisdom and not the world’s idea of wisdom, which is increasingly narcissistic and ruthless.
Verse 18 always reminds me of Mathew 5, where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” It also reminds me how often righteousness and peace are linked in scripture. I love the imagery of Psalm 85:10: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”
We must be peacemakers in a world where they are alarmingly absent. Godly wisdom. James tells us in chapter 1 to ask for it. I pray for it every day.
Taming the tongue ! I struggle with not only speaking kind words ,but keeping the focus on anything but me . Also setting an example of wisdom and peace can be difficult. Yet I know God can and will help me when I ask . I just love the book of James. So much there !
We had a Sermonette quite a while ago in 2015 that used the word Think as an acronym… Is what I am about to say:
T – Is it True
H – Is it Helpful
I – Is it Inspiring
N – Is it Necessary
K – is it Kind
I needed to resurrect my notes on this one.
My goal in reading this chapter is to focus on who and what I should be with the help of the powerful Spirit living within me…
“James 3:17-18
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace”.
Hopefully then by striving to be peaceful, merciful and growing in the Fruit of the Spirit I will also, therefore, learn when and how to speak and when and how to keep silent because at times I am very impulsive and must get back to thinking things through not just blurt out what is on my mind in a given moment.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
That’s a lie. I’d rather be physically beaten than verbally assaulted. Physical wounds heal with time. Verbal wounds stay with you for the rest of your life. You forgive, but the verbal wounds don’t go away. They resurface when you’re vulnerable and they carry the same pain as the first time you heard them.
Verses 9-10 always resonate with me about not only about our speech, but what’s in our hearts and mind: “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.”
Everyone is made in the image of God. There may be behavior that is wrong – even egregiously wrong – that we don’t tolerate, but we love (agape) everyone because God has a plan for them, too. We don’t demonize or diminish or disparage anyone. We don’t call them names that are derogatory and demeaning (I hear a lot of this, even among the ekklesia). We don’t hate anyone.
I think about a couple of things. The lawyer in the parable of the good Samaritan asked Jesus Christ who his neighbor was. The answer: everyone! I also think about the future. God’s plan is for every human being to ultimately be in His family. How would we feel if the people we curse today are our spiritual brothers and sisters for eternity? It’s sobering.
Finally, I read the last several verses of James 3 often. Earthly wisdom (envy – or jealousy – and self-seeking) versus godly wisdom (pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy). I always want God’s wisdom and not the world’s idea of wisdom, which is increasingly narcissistic and ruthless.
Verse 18 always reminds me of Mathew 5, where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” It also reminds me how often righteousness and peace are linked in scripture. I love the imagery of Psalm 85:10: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”
We must be peacemakers in a world where they are alarmingly absent. Godly wisdom. James tells us in chapter 1 to ask for it. I pray for it every day.
Reading what James says about the tongue always makes me want to not talk or write for a little while. It’s so emphatic.
Words are important. They just need to be the RIGHT words, and that’s always more difficult than it sounds.