With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3: 9-12)
I don’t know about you, but I am guilty about saying hurtful words, especially to those closest to me. When I read James 3, my heart is full of conviction, because there is so much truth this entire passage. How many times do we sing worship to God, and then minutes later spew venom with our words? According to verse 12, “neither can a salt spring produce fresh water”. Wow. How can we slander, gossip, hurt so easily with the same tongue and mouth that worships Jesus Christ? According to this passage, it is pretty impossible to do both. There are times I am in a worship setting, and i refuse to sing merely words to God, because I know not too long ago I was spewing venom with my mouth. In this situation, I have repented and asked God for forgiveness and then felt the freedom to worship again. You are either a slave to one, or the other, but certainly you can’t do both simultaneously. I would argue continual, habitual sin will lead someone to hell. And it says in the beginning of the passage, teachers are held to an even higher standard. If someone slips once in a while and repents afterwards, its one thing, but if its been a pattern in someone’s life, there is an issue. It is very hard for a salt spring to produce fresh water, virtually impossible. Just like a grapevine bearding figs, or a fig tree bearding olives. I think we need to not just glaze over these words, but take them to heart and do some serious introspection so that our conscious’ does not get seared. It is important to search out hearts because “out of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Sin is always rooted in the heart, it just comes out through different ways, whether in tongue, body, thoughts, etc. I hope you are just as convicted reading through this chapter as I am, because it forces me to look in the mirror and question, where I am with the Lord.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:3-6)
