Jas. 3:7-8 People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison.
We must somehow wrap ourselves around this truth. The tongue is inherently evil. Without restraint it will do its evil. It will destroy those around it, without regard for who they may be. An uncontrolled tongue is full of deadly poison. Why? Because the tongue is the extension of the heart. The tongue expresses what is in the heart. When the heart is full of sin, evil dominates one's speech. A sinful heart cannot be tamed by sheer willpower. What the tongue speaks is full of deadly poison; it naturally spews that which devastates and destroys.
The issue then is what can we do about it. Without God's help, there is nothing we can do. Our hearts are naturally evil, and unless we allow the Lord to change our hearts, we are going to act naturally and let our tongues spew out its deadly poison. With great effort there may be some who can tame their tongue to some degree, but not completely. Lies are spoken, hurtful things are said, words of anger come out, etc.
The Lord alone can tame the tongue. He purifies the heart so that what comes out of it is good and not evil. He alone has the power to tame the tongue. His Spirit gives us the willpower to control the tongue. We can have victory over the tongue's deadly poison, but we must let Jesus be our Lord if we are going to do it. It's not an easy thing to do, but with His help, we can do it. The more you let Jesus influence your life, the more you will gain control over your tongue.
Does your tongue need taming today?
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