Day 346

Less than 20 days left in this years reading plan, and today we come to one of the more convicting passages in Scripture because it’s something we all feel and know. James 3 addresses the tongue. It may be a small part of our body, but the picture that James paints is that it is like a spark that can set entire forests ablaze. Over the past few years we’ve seen different fires rage in the western portions of our country, or we can remember the fire on Maui last year that wiped out so much of Lahaina. It’s devastating to see what a small spark can lead to. But that is also the power of the tongue.

“It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” (James 3:6 NLT)

The incongruity that we all feel with our tongue is real. With it we praise our Lord and Savior, but we also curse others who have been made in the image of God. I love how James responds to this: My brothers, these things ought not to be so (James 3:10 ESV).

So what we do with all of this? We repent and we seek to keep our heart with all vigilance (cf Proverbs 4:23). The reason being…our tongue reflects our heart. Our tongue does not speak on its own, but it is an overflow of what’s in the heart. If we want to see the tongue tamed we must grow in confession and repentance and seek to fill our hearts with what is good, true, and beautiful.