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?
James 3:9-10
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Our ability and need to express ourselves is as ancient as the advent of our existence.
To this, James instructs clearly, out of the same mouth should not come praise and cursing.
In this part of his epistle, James continues bring to bear a ‘working’ and ‘living’ faith with a clear emphasis on our tongues; the key implement which manifests our very expressions.
James elucidates:
Those who teach the word of God – be careful! You will be judged more strictly.
In fact, if you want to be perfect, be sure to never be at fault in what you say. If you can do that, your entire life will be in check. (Ref: James 3:1-2)
But that is simply not possible. For “no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
If you think that this is bad, consider this – James alludes to a hellish reality that demonizes the tongue as “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 3:6)
If no human being can tame the tongue, then what, or who can?
Only the Spirit of the living God.
Understand this today, and forevermore; only the Holy Spirit can tame our tongues.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”
Only the Holy Spirit can inspire and enable our proclamations that “Jesus is Lord!”
Consider these Scriptures… …
Zacharias, father of John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people… …(Luke 1:67-68)
Even Jesus “rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “ (Luke 10:21)
Jesus teaches us, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Are we worshipers of the Father – in spirit and truth?
Today, we have to decide who manifests our lives – the Holy Spirit or our own broken and fallen spirit?
The trouble with our broken and fallen spirit is that when we are left to our own devices, our lives become destined for a fiery destruction.
The tongue ‘is a restless evil, full of deadly poison’ and ‘is itself set on fire by hell’.
What do we do with such a troublesome part of our body?
It is not an appendix that can be removed, nor a medical condition that could be treated and healed. Our tongues are indelibly a big part of our lives and beings.
There is only one biblical resolution to this conundrum.
We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, and cease ownership of not only our tongues, but our entire lives.
Our very existence and our every impulse must be enlivened and energized by the Holy Spirit of the living God.
This is exactly what Paul writes about in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Are we in control of our lives? Or does Christ live in us?
Actually, can we really claim to be in control of our lives? It is stupendously foolish to remotely think that we are; Christ’s parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21 speaks precisely to this idiocy.
We have to decide, and live out the reality, that only by the Holy Spirit’s power would we live in the Christian integrity that is expected of ‘spirit and truth’ worshippers of the living God.
Ultimately, this passage of Scripture speaks not only about dealing with our tongues, but more importantly, about how we must shape our Christian integrity.
Have you ever imagined that our tongue determines the shape of our integrity?
Should praise and cursing come from the same tongue?
It should not. But if it does, our Christian integrity comes into question.
Hence, when James exhorts us to deal with our tongues, he is really talking about shaping our Christian integrity.
So, how do we deal with our tongues?
James clues us in on the biblical resolution.
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
The answer lies in the cognate form of the greek for ‘be’ – gínomai, which describes a ‘coming into being’, an emergence, a transitioning from one point (realm, condition) to another.
It is a question of our purpose of existence, just as it is a question of ‘how’ we may move into this ultimate purpose of existence.
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?... …
Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
The fact remains that salt water is useless - and at certain quantities, even deadly – for human consumption. This is analogous of our sinful and wicked lives.
To live, we need fresh water.
To live for all eternity, we need to draw into the source of water that wells up to eternal life.
So, how do our lives - being salt springs - produce fresh water?
We can’t.
It is simply impossible, all things humanly considered; for it is only possible through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
‘Jesus answered, … “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”’ (John 4:13-14)
In Christ, we will drink of the water that will forever quench our thirst and become in us ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’!
How about that!
Still, understand that we have a part to play in this process of spiritual transformation; our faith must be revealed through our deeds.
We have to drink.
Thus, following James’ analogy that we are ‘lifeless’ salt springs, we have to cultivate a discipline of spiritual displacement where we consciously and conscientiously allow the praise of God in our lives to displace our words of cursing - which are rooted in our taste for sin and wickedness.
In so doing, we surrender more and more of our lives to God, thereby becoming Christ’s spring of ‘life-giving’ water, which leads to eternal life!
To emulate James’ intense and hellish description of our tongues in this passage:
Every time we praise God instead of succumbing to our base instinct, we displace hell with heaven in our lives.
Every time we express praise to God instead of words of cursing, we displace our sinful and broken ways with the Holy Spirit’s.
This is, the discipline of spiritual displacement.
And this, my beloved brethren, is the hallmark of Christian integrity – praise always, always praise.
Praise God always. In all ways, praise God.
Every moment of every day, edify the body of Christ, and glorify God in gratuitous love.
Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:18-20,
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God”
Every moment of every day, cultivate the discipline of praising God.
The psalmist David knows this discipline well,
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. (Psalm 34:1)
Today, would you let your praise of God shape your integrity, and displace your taste for sin and wickedness?
Would you surrender your life fully to God, living in Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Beloved, consider this carefully - your eternity depends on it.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Forgive my life of wickedness and my words of cursing.
Forgive my lack of faithful Christian integrity.
Help me to deal with my spirit, as much as my words.
May all that I express glorify Your Holy Name and edify Your Church.
Enable us, O Holy Spirit, to displace our carnal selves with Christ in us.
Empower us, O Holy Spirit, to praise God always and in all ways!
Cultivate within us, the discipline of displacing all things sinful, wicked, temporal, and broken with things of God – righteous, eternal and perfect.
Like David, may I revere You at all times, and may Your praise always be on my lips.
Lord Jesus, fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
I long to drink of the water that You give – the water that quenches my thirst infinitely and eternally.
I long to experience this water becoming in me a spring of water welling up to eternal life, that all around me will come to drink of this life-giving water that only You can give.
Into Your hands, Lord Jesus, I surrender my life.
In everything, I commit to living in deference to, and in reverence of Your Way, Your Truth and Your Life.
We pray all these in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
James 3:9-10
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Our ability and need to express ourselves is as ancient as the advent of our existence.
To this, James instructs clearly, out of the same mouth should not come praise and cursing.
In this part of his epistle, James continues bring to bear a ‘working’ and ‘living’ faith with a clear emphasis on our tongues; the key implement which manifests our very expressions.
James elucidates:
Those who teach the word of God – be careful! You will be judged more strictly.
In fact, if you want to be perfect, be sure to never be at fault in what you say. If you can do that, your entire life will be in check. (Ref: James 3:1-2)
But that is simply not possible. For “no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
If you think that this is bad, consider this – James alludes to a hellish reality that demonizes the tongue as “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 3:6)
If no human being can tame the tongue, then what, or who can?
Only the Spirit of the living God.
Understand this today, and forevermore; only the Holy Spirit can tame our tongues.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”
Only the Holy Spirit can inspire and enable our proclamations that “Jesus is Lord!”
Consider these Scriptures… …
Zacharias, father of John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people… …(Luke 1:67-68)
Even Jesus “rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “ (Luke 10:21)
Jesus teaches us, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Are we worshipers of the Father – in spirit and truth?
Today, we have to decide who manifests our lives – the Holy Spirit or our own broken and fallen spirit?
The trouble with our broken and fallen spirit is that when we are left to our own devices, our lives become destined for a fiery destruction.
The tongue ‘is a restless evil, full of deadly poison’ and ‘is itself set on fire by hell’.
What do we do with such a troublesome part of our body?
It is not an appendix that can be removed, nor a medical condition that could be treated and healed. Our tongues are indelibly a big part of our lives and beings.
There is only one biblical resolution to this conundrum.
We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, and cease ownership of not only our tongues, but our entire lives.
Our very existence and our every impulse must be enlivened and energized by the Holy Spirit of the living God.
This is exactly what Paul writes about in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Are we in control of our lives? Or does Christ live in us?
Actually, can we really claim to be in control of our lives? It is stupendously foolish to remotely think that we are; Christ’s parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21 speaks precisely to this idiocy.
We have to decide, and live out the reality, that only by the Holy Spirit’s power would we live in the Christian integrity that is expected of ‘spirit and truth’ worshippers of the living God.
Ultimately, this passage of Scripture speaks not only about dealing with our tongues, but more importantly, about how we must shape our Christian integrity.
Have you ever imagined that our tongue determines the shape of our integrity?
Should praise and cursing come from the same tongue?
It should not. But if it does, our Christian integrity comes into question.
Hence, when James exhorts us to deal with our tongues, he is really talking about shaping our Christian integrity.
So, how do we deal with our tongues?
James clues us in on the biblical resolution.
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
The answer lies in the cognate form of the greek for ‘be’ – gínomai, which describes a ‘coming into being’, an emergence, a transitioning from one point (realm, condition) to another.
It is a question of our purpose of existence, just as it is a question of ‘how’ we may move into this ultimate purpose of existence.
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?... …
Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
The fact remains that salt water is useless - and at certain quantities, even deadly – for human consumption. This is analogous of our sinful and wicked lives.
To live, we need fresh water.
To live for all eternity, we need to draw into the source of water that wells up to eternal life.
So, how do our lives - being salt springs - produce fresh water?
We can’t.
It is simply impossible, all things humanly considered; for it is only possible through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
‘Jesus answered, … “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”’ (John 4:13-14)
In Christ, we will drink of the water that will forever quench our thirst and become in us ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’!
How about that!
Still, understand that we have a part to play in this process of spiritual transformation; our faith must be revealed through our deeds.
We have to drink.
Thus, following James’ analogy that we are ‘lifeless’ salt springs, we have to cultivate a discipline of spiritual displacement where we consciously and conscientiously allow the praise of God in our lives to displace our words of cursing - which are rooted in our taste for sin and wickedness.
In so doing, we surrender more and more of our lives to God, thereby becoming Christ’s spring of ‘life-giving’ water, which leads to eternal life!
To emulate James’ intense and hellish description of our tongues in this passage:
Every time we praise God instead of succumbing to our base instinct, we displace hell with heaven in our lives.
Every time we express praise to God instead of words of cursing, we displace our sinful and broken ways with the Holy Spirit’s.
This is, the discipline of spiritual displacement.
And this, my beloved brethren, is the hallmark of Christian integrity – praise always, always praise.
Praise God always. In all ways, praise God.
Every moment of every day, edify the body of Christ, and glorify God in gratuitous love.
Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:18-20,
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God”
Every moment of every day, cultivate the discipline of praising God.
The psalmist David knows this discipline well,
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. (Psalm 34:1)
Today, would you let your praise of God shape your integrity, and displace your taste for sin and wickedness?
Would you surrender your life fully to God, living in Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Beloved, consider this carefully - your eternity depends on it.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Forgive my life of wickedness and my words of cursing.
Forgive my lack of faithful Christian integrity.
Help me to deal with my spirit, as much as my words.
May all that I express glorify Your Holy Name and edify Your Church.
Enable us, O Holy Spirit, to displace our carnal selves with Christ in us.
Empower us, O Holy Spirit, to praise God always and in all ways!
Cultivate within us, the discipline of displacing all things sinful, wicked, temporal, and broken with things of God – righteous, eternal and perfect.
Like David, may I revere You at all times, and may Your praise always be on my lips.
Lord Jesus, fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
I long to drink of the water that You give – the water that quenches my thirst infinitely and eternally.
I long to experience this water becoming in me a spring of water welling up to eternal life, that all around me will come to drink of this life-giving water that only You can give.
Into Your hands, Lord Jesus, I surrender my life.
In everything, I commit to living in deference to, and in reverence of Your Way, Your Truth and Your Life.
We pray all these in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.