The poison of the tongue

‘But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.’ James 3:8

So, let’s say it different!

‘The tongue is an uncontrolled and untamed beast: it is a loose-cannon bent on violence, loaded with venom to inflict pain and death.’

A ‘loose cannon’ refers to the days of wooden warships which used cannons as their primary weapon. Because the recoil was so great when firing them, they had to be tied very securely to the deck with ropes, or else they could inflict great damage on the ship as well as the crew.

The apostle James had something to say about the tongue. He said that we can steer a powerful horse with just a bit and bridle, yet we cannot control our tongues. Before we even know it, this little terrier lashes out without any pre-thought and spews out all manner of evil words in response to any given situation.

We drive around in our cars as though we were invincible and untouchable, but when someone cuts us up, or we see somebody on the road acting unusually, the tongue goes into overdrive, cursing and ridiculing, bad-naming and jeering at the other person.

Worse still, when someone disagrees with us or causes us some offense, this little devil in our mouths casts poison into the room and aims its venom in whatever direction suits it best. And before you even know it, that tongue has done more damage in a few seconds than a bully at school might do in five years.

It cares not what the outcome may be, nor the damage it inflicts upon the hearers; and it speaks from the heart, ‘for out of what is really in the heart the mouth speaks.’  (Matthew 12:34)

So, we try to hide from others what we are really like deep down inside, but suddenly our words give us away!

James throws up the questions, “Who can control it? Who can tame it?”

Death and life are in the tongue. Our words can be sharper that the terrorist’s knife, or they can be the healing ointment of a kind physician. They can be the vicious poison that destroys a man’s spirit and renders him despondent, or they can be the very words that lift a soul from despair and hopelessness.

Oh that we might think before we open our mouths and give vent to our anger, or release hurting and unkind words on another creation of God. As we wish people would do to us, let us do to them also.  (Luke 6:31)

We may feel justified and satisfied with the use of this weapon against another person, but mark carefully what (Proverbs 18:21) says: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it.’

The poison of the human tongue (unlike that of the snake) actually inflicts evil upon the person using it. Our words are both life and death to ourselves. If we persist in lashing out (just because we can), then our own lives will become full of the same bitterness and nastiness that will actually affect the way we think, the way we behave, and even the way we look.

The root cause, the control centre, the internal hub from where all this comes is the heart. God says that he will give us a new heart. ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart (that bad attitude and hardness of heart) out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh (a heart of grace, compassion, and love).’  (Ezekiel 36:26)

Oh for a heart to praise my God!

A heart from sin set free;

A heart that always feels the blood

So freely shed for me.

 

A heart resigned, submissive, meek;

My great Redeemer’s throne,

Where only Christ is heard to speak;

Where Jesus reigns alone.

These words are from the eighteenth century hymn-writer Charles Wesley.

 

Pilgrim Warrior