James 3:1–18 (NKJV)
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 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.
Like John’s first epistle, the Epistle of James is largely focused on exposing and rooting out hypocrisy from among Christians. We have been rescued from the devil’s kingdom. We have been washed of our sins in Holy Baptism. We now call upon the God of love as our Father, our Savior, and our Lord, who is pure and holy and good. It only makes sense that our lives as His children should also be pure and holy and good.
That purity flows from the new hearts created in us when we were born again, but the next stop is the tongue. James points out what a big part our tongues play in steering our lives—and how hard they are to control. God’s Word is all-powerful, but our words have power, too. They can do great good for our neighbor, and they can do great damage to him.
The Christian uses his tongue to praise God. He strives to speak only things that are true and that are helpful to his neighbor. The hypocrite, on the other hand, blesses God with his mouth but then uses the same mouth to curse and to put down his fellow man, or to speak falsehood in order to save his own skin. James exposes the hypocrisy of this behavior and warns his fellow Christians to watch out for such hypocrisy, and to repent of it immediately if we have fallen into it.
He then encourages us to examine our hearts, to see if there is “bitter envy and self-seeking” there and to be honest with ourselves if we find it. Am I jealous of my neighbor? Am I seeking his good or my own? How is this reflected in my words? How is it reflected in my actions? If we believe in God and wish to be wise, then let us pursue heavenly wisdom, which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Let us pray: Lord, forgive us for misusing our tongues to harm our neighbor. Help us to control them, to speak only words that edify, and to show mercy in all that we say and do. Amen.
