“Shut Yo Mouth!”

James 3:1-12

3 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 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. 5 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. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt a water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Verse 1

This is why every pastor, elder, or teacher of any kind should be very careful in what they say: we will be judged more strictly (literally: “punished to a higher degree”.)

Why are teachers punished to a higher degree? To teach is to learn twice. Those who are teachers should know the Word of God better than those whom they teach and as such they are all-the-more bound to it and by it!

Verse 2-8

“Loose lips sink ships.”

Prov 26:22

22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;

they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

Look at these examples. I know you’ve heard this a lot but it bears repeating! Ships, hors
es, oxen, mules are turned by a tiny piece. What happens to a ship if the rudder breaks? It can crash

What happens when lose control of our tongues?

Verses 9-12

This may the way things happen but they shouldn’t be this way!

Your heart will dictate what comes out of your mouth. Bitterness in your heart, bitterness out of your mouth. Joy in the heart, joy out of your mouth. If the eyes are a mirror to the soul, the voice (or tongue) is its mouthpiece. When have you ever been around a person who speaks gossip and bitterness who is a pleasure to be around? None Why? They are bitter on the inside.