Hold that thought

James 3:1-2    Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

The heading in my study Bible for this passage is, “The Untamable Tongue”.  James gives examples of how evil our speech can be throughout this chapter. Of how no matter how hard we try to guard our speech, we will ultimately fail and say words that will sting, judge, curse, condemn; the list of could be endless of the harm our words can be. James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. What we seek to build up can be torn down in one wrong statement from that evil tongue. All we can do is to seek God, and spend daily time with God, in preparation to guard our speech. What we put in our mind comes out our mouth.

Early in this ministry the scripture above haunted me. I looked at my life, and the horror of great sins in it, and Satan creeped in. My list of sins is great, my failures endless, but Satan cannot take away what my Salvation through Christ has given me. That was my life before Christ, this is my life after Him. I take that accountability very seriously of reflecting what I see in the scriptures, for I am an uneducated man teaching the scriptures. I only claim to have a heart for God and the things of God, and try to share with you what you can have in the same daily pursuit. I will be held to a stricter judgement, therefore I must be wholesome in my pursuit. James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

I actually ended up in James 3 as I was studying Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. The references pointed to those passages in James. The relation is easy to see, for what we judge in our minds we are likely to speak with our tongues. We are to guard our minds, therefore God will guard our tongues. God grants us discernment as disciples of His, but with that discernment comes wisdom and responsibility. We are not to become fault finding critics of those that do not appear to be holy; we are to use this wisdom to protect ourselves, not become self-righteous. The more time you spend with God, the more not only the sin that surrounds you is revealed, but the depth of your own depravity before He redeemed you. “Sin has left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”