What You Say Is What You Get
James 3:1-12
Isaiah 50:4 (NKJV)
“The LORD God has given me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.”
Proverbs 18:21a (NKJV)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue
Proverbs 18:21b (NKJV)
...and those who love it will eat its fruits.
1. Our Tongues Can Condemn Us
James 3:1a (ESV)
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers,
Matthew 9:36-37 (NIV)
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
James 3:1b (ESV)
...or you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Matthew 12:36-37 (ESV)
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
2. Our Tongues Control Us
James 3:2a (ESV)
For we all stumble in many ways...
James 3:2b (ESV)
...and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
James 3:3 (ESV)
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
James 3:4 (ESV)
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.
Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 21:23 (NIV
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.
Proverbs 15:23 (NIV)
To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!
Proverbs 18:20 (NIV)
From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
3. Our Tongues Can Corrupt Us and Others
James 3:5 (ESV)
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!
v.5b NASB & KJV "Behold"
James 3:6 (ESV)
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.
4. Our Tongues Can Cause Compromise
James 3:7-8 (ESV)
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:9 (ESV)
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
James 3:10 (ESV)
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Luke 6:45
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
James 3:11-12 (ESV)
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
1st Look Inside Your Heart
2nd Learn To Bite Your Tongue
3rd Listen To What Others Are Saying
4th Let God Help You
Psalm 19:14 (ESV)
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue!
