“For we all together stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in word, that one is a perfect man, able to control the whole body.” James 3:2
James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, makes a remarkable claim in his short epistle. The one who can tame the tongue can also tame every other aspect of life. I was meditating on this as I walked my dog around the neighborhood today. Think about it; if a man works hard to tame his tongue by keeping his word, he can be self-controlled in other areas of life. A husband tells his wife that he will wash dishes that night. Then he has a long, tiring day at work. Gets home late. Has an early morning the next day. Yet, he said he will wash the dishes that night. So, in an effort to tame his tongue by keeping his word, he washes the dishes. Small steps in taming his tongue by keeping his word leads to victory in other areas of life. The marriage grows cold; there is stress in raising children; there is a young and free co-worker trying to catch his eye. Yet, he is a man who tames his tongue; he keeps his word, and he will keep that word to his wife, “in sickness and health, till death do us part.” He does not give in to the temptress. He reprioritizes life to make the marriage warm again. He gives the stress of raising children to the Lord, and delights in his imperfect children. Why? Because he has learned to keep his word, he has tamed his tongue.
As I was meditating on this verse, walking the pup, I came to a T-intersection in my neighborhood. One small car, which should have yielded to a big truck, turned in front of the big truck, nearly causing an accident. The big truck driver honked the big truck horn for perhaps longer than what was necessary. But this honking was justified; the driver needed to warn the other driver that they almost caused an accident; they were probably texting anyway and needed to be reminded to watch the road. But then the big truck driver proceeded to hit the gas and accelerate within a few feet of the small car’s bumper. Then, on a one lane road, the big truck swerved around and in front of the small car just to show them that they did wrong. All this just in time for both cars to slam on their brakes and stop at the red light. Whoever the big truck driver was, they obviously did not have a tamed tongue. What does Peter tell us in 1 Peter 3:9? “Do not give back evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but rather blessing, since for this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing.” If that big truck driver learned to speak blessings on those who cursed, that road rage would have been tamed. That driver could have given the blessing of a courtesy honk that says, “hey, watch the road, be more careful,” and stopped there, instead of proceeding to give the cursing honk and dangerous cut off maneuver that almost lead to a big pile-up.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all this to say, if there is a sin you are struggling to overcome, perhaps the key to unlock the door of greater holiness, greater Christlikeness, is to focus on taming your tongue. Then you will see self-control bleed over to other areas of your life.
“If someone does not stumble in word, that one is a perfect man, able to control the whole body.”
Sound Teaching, Sound Living 