Introduction
We are well into our study of the book of James. James
taught Christians are to be “doers” and “hearers” of the Word. This requires a
balance between a person’s spiritual life and his or her physical life. The
person must make sure everything he or she does and says comes from a
Spirit-filled inner being pursuing righteousness.
In chapter three, James continued to teach about specific
actions a Christian should put into practice to be a doer and not just a hearer
of the Word. He especially taught about the Christian’s use of his or her tongue.
James specifically taught about teachers and generally taught about every
Christians’ use of their tongues. He gave guidelines explaining how to know the
wisdom and knowledge a person shares with another person or people is from God
and when it is not. James used examples to show the power of a tongue in daily
life. At the end, He said a person who speaks truth from God does so in peace,
makes peace, and reaps righteousness. We need to consider with care each of the
eighteen verses in James 3 to understand well what James stressed in this
chapter.
Consider Teachers
Bible scholars have looked at this chapter and considered it
made of two distinct lessons – God’s strict requirements and judgment of teachers
(vs. 1 & 18), and taming the tongue (vs. 2-17). I propose that we see this
chapter as one lesson. The chapter speaks pointedly to teachers – the
seriousness of their teaching responsibility to God, the damage a tongue can
do, the wisdom needed to speak rightly, and the result of using the tongue for godly
purposes.
Because James began and ended this chapter speaking about teachers,
we can conclude he meant for the chapter mainly to speak to and about teachers.
This technique of enveloping helps point readers’ and hearers’ attention to the
primary lesson of the chapter from the beginning and refocuses their attention back
to the primary lesson at the end. It is an effective literary technique.
James said in the first verse, “Let not many of you become teachers,
my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” Let us
look at the definition of some of the words from the Greek language. The word “teachers”
comes from the Greek word didaskolos.
It means one who teaches about the things of God and the duties of man by the
special help of the Holy Spirit[i]. This
word includes anyone who teaches about God and humankind’s duties according to
God’s Law. “Teachers” include pastors, preachers, evangelists, and other
teaching ministers. “Knowing” comes from the Greek word oikeios and means belonging to a house or family, an intimate by Jesus’
blood of God’s household[ii]. From
these definitions, we can see this verse encourages actual and potential teachers
to make sure God called them to teach about Him and what He requires of His
children, knowing they will receive a stricter condemnation for teaching wrong.
This teaching of James’ about a stricter judgment should
make a person consider with care whether he or she is called by God to teach or
whether he or she wants to teach to gain followers and acclaim. Paul wrote to
Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:6-7 saying, “For some men, straying from these things
[love, good conscience, and sincere faith], have turned aside to fruitless
discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not
understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make
confident assertions.” To be a Rabbi or teacher in the first century and later
eras was to gain a higher standing in the community. The people of the towns
and cities looked up to Rabbis and teachers. This gave them influence and power
in the communities. Because of this, people wanted to gain a following and
gather disciples. Many times, though, what the people taught was not according
to God’s Word. From selfish ambition and jealousy, those teachers allowed their
sinful nature the freedom to speak as if they had God’s authority. James spoke about
this in James 1:16; he spoke about a lust in one’s heart that gives birth to
sin. From this, we understand the desire for greatness can cause the tongue to
lead to sin. Teachers, as spoken of by this passage, have a greater likelihood
of falling victim to this temptation to sin through use of the tongue/speech.
Consider the Tongue
Guard the Tongue.
James began verse two with a preposition (“for”), which
shows this thought continues from the earlier thought. He said, “For we all
stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a
perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” Here James made the point
that every person make mistakes and sin in many ways, not just in speech. We
must remember no person is perfect/righteous except Jesus Christ. So no one can
control their natural, earthly desire to serve him or herself exclusively
without God’s help. In verse two, James’ use of “perfect” comes from the Greek
word teleios and means wanting in
nothing, complete, perfect such as consummate human integrity and virtue[iii]. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.” No one is perfect and no one can be
perfect without God.
James continued by saying if a person can remain righteous
in what he or she says, then he or she can control his or her actions.
Righteousness in a person shows through a person’s words and actions, which
comes from the person’s heart, the place the Holy Spirit dwells in the
believer. Jesus taught this when He said what goes into a person is not what
defiles that person, but what comes from him or her – what comes from the
person’s heart (Matthew 15:11). We need to understand when James spoke in this
chapter about “a perfect man,” he used the Greek word aner. Aner is a word used generically to refer to both men and
women[iv]. Because
of James use of aner, we understand
James meant everyone sins and fails to be righteous, men and women. Added to
this, everybody need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to change their hearts, words,
and actions.
When James used the word “bridle” in verse two, he applied
the same idea of guiding a horse to guiding our bodies. “Bridle” comes from the
Greek word chalinagogeo and means to
guide, to hold in check, or to restrain[v]. This
brings to mind what James taught in James 1:26 when he said, “If anyone thinks
himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his
own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” James began this book speaking about
bridling tongues and developed it to bridling the whole body. That does not
mean he wants his hearers to forget what he said in chapter one, but to include
other parts of the body in the metaphor. Foremost, though, James dealt with
bridling the tongue since he specified it in his opening statements of the book
and said God would judge teachers (people who use their mouths in service to
the Lord) more strictly. Since “bridling” means guiding and directing something
or someone to hold true to the path to get to a goal, we can see what James
meant in verse three. Any part of the body can be bridled for a goal by guiding
a person’s tongue, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Each part of the body is
controlled by the mind and heart where the Holy Spirit lives when a person becomes
a Christian. James’ goal was righteousness, staying away from temptation and
sin. Followers of Jesus must bridle every part of their bodies as James said in
3:2 and in 1:26. What a person says shows his or her heart and how much he or
she allows the Holy Spirit to teach, grow, and lead him or her to perfection/completion
in Christ.
We must understand another thing James said in this verse.
When he used the words “whole body,” we recognize he spoke about a person’s
physical body. We should realize James meant the body of Christ - the Church -
too. The word “body” comes from the Greek word soma meaning a person’s body or the body of Christ, the New
Testament church. With this understanding, we realize James spoke to individual
Christians about bridling their bodies and tongues and to Christian teachers
who taught and led the body of Christ to greater understanding of God and His Word.
Here we begin to see this chapter is not made of two lessons, but of one – teachers
bridling their tongues to teach correctly of God from the Holy Spirit within
them and Christians in general bridling their tongues so they speak righteous
words. When people speak according to God, it gives evidence they are growing
more like Christ. God will judge teachers more strictly because they have greater
influence on more people. What a teacher says can affect the direction of his
or her listeners (plural) - what they think and do. To lead people in the right
way – God’s way – a teacher must teach things true to God’s Word and character.
When a teacher does that he or she glorifies God and not self. It shows
humility and recognition of the greatness of God and the smallness of self. By
using James’ figure of speech, a teacher bridles his or her tongue and by that
act bridles/leads the body of Christ to grow closer to God and follow Him, not
the world. What the tongue says affects the whole body – the physical body of
the speaker and the spiritual body of believers.
Power of the Tongue – Metaphors.
In verses three through six, James gave three metaphors
depicting how the tongue, though the smallest member of the body, wields great
power. He used common things of the time so people would understand his
instruction. James used of horses’ and bits, a ships’ and rudder, and flame and
forest fire as metaphors to explain small parts often make the whole miss the mark.
With careful and judicious leading/direction by the rider, pilot, and fire
starter, the goal can be attained.
Horses’ Bits
James said in verse three, “Now if we put the bits into the
horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.”
The first thing we must see is that “bits” and “horses’ mouths” are plural. By
this, we realize James spoke of directing more than one person, such as an assembly
of believers or churches. He spoke of influencing by speech one person at a
time, too. The fact James used a possessive plural noun allows us to understand
the middle of chapter three is not just a lesson to Christians in general, but applies
to teachers in specific. That means this metaphor is more for teachers. The
groups of horses are a group of people taught by the Christian teacher. The
horses’ bits are the spoken message by the teacher that guides the horses to a
goal - loving and obeying God. When James taught this metaphor, he meant, too,
for it to reflect every Christian’s speech as well. (Christian teachers are a
subset of all Christians.) The horse bit reminds each Christian to guard what
he or she says by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide his or her words. By doing
that, God is glorified and the hearer is not mislead to believer the speaker is
Christian when he or she is guided by secular wisdom. That could make the
listener believe the speaker’s faith did not change him or her.
What is the message James taught in verse three? He told Christians,
and, in specific, teachers, actively to “put the bits into the horses’ mouths.”
Intentionally teach God’s righteous Word (teachers) or speak right words
(Christians) to lead others to see God at work in Christians’ lives and to love
and obey Him. The only way God’s righteous words can flow from a Christian in
secular work or in Christian service is by the power of the Holy Spirit since
every person is sinful and unrighteous. When a person speaks from selfish
ambition or out of jealousy to gain followers or power, what the person says
will not be from God. We must not underestimate the power of words to influence
and guide people to action. As people who have influence in a community, teachers
who speak for the Lord must make sure they speak from the power of the Holy
Spirit and not from the old sinful nature. Because teachers are people of
influence, God will judge them with stricter judgment. Teachers must put the
bit into their own mouths to guide themselves to speak what the Holy Spirit
directs so they can lead the body of Christ (put the bit in the people’s
mouths) to follow God. James said, as teachers, “We direct their (the church’s)
entire body as well.” (vs. 3b)
Ships’ Rudder
In verse four, James used a different metaphor to explain
his point. In this verse, James said, “Look at the ships also, though they are
so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder
wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.” Once again, an everyday occurrence
provides a teaching picture for Christians as a metaphor for the teachers of
God.
As we look at this verse, we notice “ships” is plural. Besides
this, the pilot must actively guide them ship (the church) by the rudder or the
strong winds will knock the ship off course. Here, too, James spoke to teachers
in specific as they educated Christians about God and His Word. He spoke to
individual Christians in general as they spoke and went about their days in the
secular world, too. In this metaphor, the rudder is the tongue used to
guide/speak.
The pilot is the teacher who must allow the Holy Spirit to
lead him or her to speak about God and His Word. By doing that, he or she will speak
right and lead people to God and His Word. The Greek word James used that we
translate as “pilot” is euhtuno[vi].
It means to make straight, level, or plain. The pilot is to make paths
straight or plain/clear so people can hear and know God and obey Him with
righteous service. (This sounds like Isaiah 40:3-5 when he said the Messiah would
make the crooked roads straight and the rough places plain.) Wherever the
pilot’s goal may be, that will be the direction his or her rudder will direct
the ship. If the pilot’s goal is selfish ambition and influence, then his or
her teaching will direct people to follow him or her and see God as second in
life. If the pilot’s goal is to love and obey God, then his or her teaching
will direct people to follow God. James said, even if the ships are battered about
by strong winds, the teaching and leading by the righteous teacher/pilot using
the very small rudder will lead people to seek and follow God. The teacher must
actively choose to use the rudder to direct people to follow God, just as the
rider had to decide to use the bit to guide the horse to God. Because the
teacher is a leader in the community able to influence more people to follow
God, or him or herself, God will judge him or her more strictly.
Flame and Forest Fires
James made his point about teachers being more accountable
to God from verses three and four, but emphasized it again in the beginning of
verse five. He said that even as the bit and rudder are small parts that direct
the whole, so, too, the tongue is a small part of the body. The next part of
his statement gives a notable point to this message. James said in verse 5b,
“Yet it boasts of great things.” The tongue is just a small part of a body, but
when unchecked it can wreak great damage. As a teacher in the church that
person can be considered the “tongue” of the church. The physical tongue of
each person and the spiritual tongue (the teacher) of the body of believers is
small, but boasts of great things either to lead people to God or to gain a
personal following.
The word “boasts” most often refers to negative things
because it compares one thing or person to another to show superiority over another
person. This often happens because of jealousy or self-centeredness. Boasting, too,
can mean speaking well of something or someone, referring to someone or
something else as great or better than one’s self or one’s
accomplishments/abilities. When the Bible speaks of this kind of boasting, the
people who boasted spoke of the Lord God and were zealous He receives the
glory. Paul spoke of this in 1 Corinthians 1:31 when he said, “Let the one who
boasts boast in the Lord.” He said this because boasting should reflect toward
the greater person. When we compare ourselves with the person and work of God -
sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, and His wisdom, holiness,
and righteousness –we must recognize God is greater than humankind. So only the
Lord should be the recipient of boasts. This positive boasting is not about
what James spoke though. He spoke about negative boasting, a boasting that took
away from the status of another person and gave the glory to the speaker. James
found amazing that so small a thing as a tongue could boast and cause such
wide-ranging negative reactions by hearers.
James used a metaphor to express the result of boasting. He said
the tongue is a small fire that sets aflame a great forest. What a person says
kindles a small fire that leads to great fires that consume forests. The tongue
can do great damage when used for personal advantage instead of God’s purposes.
From a person, one word can kindle anger in another who gets other people to
back him or her and come to his or her defense. Then people gather to support
the speaker and before much time passes, the organization to which these people
belong smolders in anger and dissension. With this dissension, people cannot
work together and find it hard to care about or like other people. The
organization then falls apart and disintegrates to be unrecognizable from what
it was before the flame ignited the great fire. The flame is the speaker. The forest
is the people within the community circles of the two people involved in the
disagreement.
In relation to teachers, the flame is the teacher speaking
for personal advantage. The forest is the church set aflame by false leadership
and doctrine that creates a fire, a rift in the church. From that, the trust in
which the community held the church is destroyed and the community of believers
go their ways leaving the church scarred from burns left by the errant fire/tongue/teaching.
James explained this in verse six. He said, “And the tongue is a fire, the very
world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles
the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by
hell.” James stated emphatically this fire began by a false teaching that came
from hell, as all false teachings do. We need to be careful to understand James
was emphatic to make a point. Speaking can be used for good, too. Yet just as
we know the tongue can cause great good to happen, so it can cause great
wickedness, too.
As a Christian in secular employment, you, too, can
influence people toward God. If you continue to speak and act righteously as
God is righteous even when strong winds batter you, people will consider your
great faith and seek God to understand and know Him for themselves. James said every
Christian must allow the Holy Spirit to guide what they say whether the person
is a Christian service worker or a Christian in secular employment. What a
Christian says will influence a hearer to seek God or sneer at the idea of God.
Every Christian must “pilot” his or her tongue to give God glory. By doing
that, the Christian will grow toward perfection in Christ Jesus (Christ-likeness).
Tame the Tongue.
Lest his hearers misunderstand James and think the tongue
was full of evil, he gave hope and said tongues can be tamed. In verse 7, James
said, “For every species of beast and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the
sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.” Just as humans tamed the
animals of creation, so can their tongues be tamed. The key here, though, is
God. In Genesis 1:28, “God said to them [Adam and Eve], ‘Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the
earth.’” God gave them the power to tame the animals using their tongues, but
then humans sinned. Sin comes when a person puts his or her desires before the
needs or desires of another person, including God. This makes the person
unrighteous. Unrighteousness makes a person unable to tame the tongue. That unrighteousness
comes from and is influenced by the person’s unrighteous heart.
James made sure his hearers understood him. He explained to
them in verse eight, “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and
full of deadly poison.” The key here is James’ words, “No one can tame the tongue.”
The two-word indefinite pronoun, “no one,” comes from the Greek word anthropos[vii],
which means “human being.” James implied only God can tame the tongue since
because of selfish purposes, sin caused Adam and Eve to lose the power He gave
them to tame the tongue. Sin affects the person’s life so that skewed decisions
and actions occur to gain the best for him or herself with little regard for
God or other people. As for the tongue, because of the fall, people will speak
to get glory for themselves, to get more followers, and to gain influence and
power. Because of sin, people cannot tame their own tongues by themselves. To
tame a tongue requires a righteous person. That person is God. He made His righteousness
available to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Without God’s power and righteousness,
selfishness cannot be overcome so that the tongue can be used for right reasons
– to teach of God and His Word.
James said in verse 8b the tongue is “a restless (akatastatos – unstable, inconstant[viii]) evil
and full of deadly poison.” He stated in verse nine, “With it [tongues] we
bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the
likeness of God.” If humans could tame their own tongues, they would not have
good and evil coming from them. They would not curse men whom God made in His
image (imago dei – the symbolic
relationship between God and humanity from Genesis 1:27). James emphasized the tongue’s
instability by comparing things that cannot go together in the created world.
He said in verse ten blessings and curses should not proceed from the same
mouth. If the tongue is dedicated to proclaim blessing, filthy curses should
not be able to come from the same lips. A fountain/spring that has fresh, sweet
water will not spew out bitter water (vs. 11). A fig tree will not produce
olives nor a grape vine produce figs. Finally, James said salt water cannot
produce fresh water. Each of these explain God did not intend the tongue to
bless and curse. God created humankind in His image and from Him only righteousness
flows.
What is good, righteous, and expected, as created by God,
cannot usher from something exposed to
evil and producing unrighteousness. Since this is so, what comes from man and
woman, whom God created in His image, should not be evil and unrighteousness.
God created humankind to be in relationship with Him. People cannot be in a relationship
with Him while they produce unrighteousness, which comes from sin – a selfish desire
to please self at the expense of another. To break the wall sin builds between
God and people, God sent His Son to die the sin judgment and take away the sin of
each person who believes in Him. Jesus Christ gives each believer His Holy
Spirit to teach, admonish, edify, and guide him or her to speak and act righteously,
just as God is righteous.
Call on God
Wisdom and Understanding.
As
we return to James, we find in 3:13 he revisited one of his lessons from
chapter one – calling on God for wisdom. James said in 3:13, “Who among you is
wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the
gentleness of wisdom.” First we must notice, James again spoke to every
Christians here, which includes teachers. Next, notice any person can be wise
and understanding. God gives wisdom to every believers, not just to leaders.
Third, James explained Christians are to show wisdom and understanding. What
God gives Christians must live out in their lives. Fourth, deeds/actions based
on wisdom are to show by good behavior in gentleness of wisdom. By this latter
point, James meant while using your wisdom and knowledge for good deeds do it
with meekness, kindness, and care. Let your knowledge and wisdom be used to help
other people not to gain you honor. Peter spoke of this in 1 Peter 2:12 when he
said, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in
which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deed, as
they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation (the day God looks into
the character of every person)[ix].”
The wisdom and understanding James spoke about that produces
good behavior that helps people comes from God. It comes from righteousness and
love of God and people. James spoke of it in James 1:5 when he explained
believers could ask God for wisdom while going through trials so they could
endure the trials and become more Christlike – grow toward perfection - because
of it. The wisdom from God is not self-serving, but serves God and other
people. It does not come from a teacher who seeks to build his or her influence
or increase his or her wealth. That teacher does not show God’s wisdom and
understanding.
Wisdom not from God.
James said the teacher who seeks to build his or her
influence or wealth is of the world and is lead by wickedness – selfish
ambition and jealousy. It comes from an unstable tongue and heart, one of
restless evil and deadly poison as James said in verse eight. That kind of tongue
cannot lead to selfless service and love. James counseled in verses fourteen
and fifteen, “If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart,
do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which
comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.” He meant do not be so
self-absorbed to presume you have a greater knowledge and wisdom than God
gives. That would be a lie against truth – moral and religious. Remember, God
gives wisdom to His people to overcome trials and to serve Him and other
people. Nothing needs to be added to God’s truth to make it perfect, complete,
right, and worthy of glorifying God. No
man or woman can make God’s truth any better by adding to what God proclaims in
His Word.
This kind of wisdom bears these characteristics:
·
Selfish ambition
·
Self-centeredness
·
Jealousy
·
Arrogance
·
Unloving
·
Lies against the truth
·
Glorifies self
Wisdom from God.
From the earlier verses and especially verses seventeen and
eighteen, James gave his hearers guidelines on how to know when a person spoke truth.
He said the person who speaks God’s truth - His wisdom - would bring God glory,
would not be motivated by selfish ambition or jealousy, would seek to serve God
and other people with meekness and love, and bring about righteousness. Besides
these, he said a person who spoke truth and wisdom from God would show godly
characteristics. This speaker would be pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable,
full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering (stable and constant), without
hypocrisy, and produce the fruit of righteousness. How do we define these godly
characteristics so we know them when we see them?
·
Purity of person shows a person who is
modest, chaste, and free from sin. A person clean from sin is pure and can
enter the presence of God, James taught in James 4:8.
·
A peaceable person is one who loves and
brings peace and who is free from internal and external conflict, which sin
brings. Jesus proclaimed blessing on the peacemaker in the Beatitudes (Matthew
5:9).
·
A gentle person is one who is fair, mild,
and shows consideration for other people.
·
A person who is reasonable easily obeys
and is compliant.
·
When a person is full of mercy, he or she
shows care, kindness, and love with a desire to help people, including the
destitute, downtrodden, and afflicted. That person shows mercy because God
showed him or her mercy like Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Luke
6:36). James encouraged a merciful character in James 2:13.
·
When someone shows by word and action God’s
goodness and reflects Him, he or she has good fruits.
·
To be unwavering, the person must be
stable and constant, without uncertainty, ambiguity, or doubt. James spoke of
this kind of person in James 2:3-4. He said when someone judges the value of
one person over another to give preferential treatment to the one who can help
him or her in the future that person wavers in righteous.
·
For someone to be without hypocrisy, he
or she must live life with sincerity and genuine and fair consideration for every
person. Paul spoke taught the Corinthians to love without hypocrisy, abhor
evil, and cling to goodness in Romans 12:9.
The most important point James taught in this section of the
chapter comes from verse eighteen. He said, “And the seed whose fruit is righteousness
is sown in peace by those who make peace.” The leader who teaches in peace with
the wisdom and understanding of God bridles the tongue, is not jealous, does
not have selfish ambition, and bears the characteristics mentioned in verse
seventeen. Paul told the Galatian Christians in Galatians 6:8, “The one who
sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows
to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
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Righteousness is the fruit of the
seed sown by any Christian who speaks for God, more so for teachers and pastors
who teach and lead in church because they will affect many more people inside
and outside the church. The growth of that seed is amplified for teachers, just
as the growth of untruths are amplified and bring stricter judgment.
Recap
In this chapter of James, we learned God judges teachers
more strictly than non-teachers. Through the metaphors James used, we
understand the teaching about speaking righteousness and truth applies to teachers
and individuals. The metaphors of horses and bits, ships and rudder, and flame
and forest fire provide a way for hearers and readers to understand the magnitude
of the impact from unrighteous speaking by a teacher. It leads to amplified
chaos, discord, and untruth. Because of the great possibility of leading many
people to confusion and away from God, God judges teachers more strictly. For
wickedness not to happen with either what individuals or unrighteous teachers
say, James taught people to bridle their tongues. He added that if they could
do that, then they could bridle their whole bodies.
In later verses, James explained “no one” can bridle their tongue.
Because of sin, the righteousness God gave Adam and Eve no longer rested in
them or gave them power over their sinful bodies. Sin removed the power of
humans to do anything righteous of their own accord. God prepared a way for righteousness
to be available through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus
Christ. Through the power of Jesus’ indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians can bridle
their tongues and overcome every temptation.
Still, Christians must act upon the power available to them.
They must call on God for wisdom (James 1:5) and believe without doubting.
These followers must will to use the power the Holy Spirit makes available to
them by claiming it and living with that power.
By living in the Spirit, a person or teacher will show good
behavior in meekness, kindness, and care. People will bring God glory, not be
motivated by selfish ambition or jealousy, seek to serve God and other people,
and bring about righteousness. Because of living in the Spirit’s power, the
person will show godly characteristics and spiritual fruit - be pure,
peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering,
without hypocrisy, and produce the fruit of righteousness. The people who show
these godly characteristics are people to be trusted and followed.
Relevance and Conclusion
This leads us to personal consideration of James’ teaching.
He implied in verse eight only God can give the power needed to bridle a
person’s tongue or any part of his body. That power comes by accepting Jesus
Christ as Savior, allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt and guide your thoughts,
words, and actions, and seeking God’s wisdom without doubting. With these
directing your life, you will grow more and more Christlike - toward maturity
and perfection - and will reflect God’s glory and characteristics in and to the
world. Selfish ambition and jealousy along with other evil, worldly desires
will have less sway in you each day as you live life to glorify God and care
for people. For teachers or pastors within the body of Christ, James stated God
would judge them more strictly because their position of influence, when ungodly
truths were taught, could lead more people away from God than non-teachers
could.
Today, if you are a Christian, you need to come to a place
where you seek God to determine whether you are a noisy gong and clanging
cymbal. You need God to shed light on whether the words you speak come from Him
and reveal His Word, truth, love, and righteousness. Will you obey the
promptings of the Holy Spirit in your heart and mind?
James wrote this chapter for every Christian, but he purposely
pointed to teachers challenging them to look at their reflection in God’s
mirror to see if they reflect Him and His glory. As one called to teach,
preach, or minister by teaching for the Lord, are you reflecting God and His righteousness?
James gave us a stark reminder in verse one; God will judge teachers, pastors,
evangelists, etc. more strictly than non-teachers. What you say and do has an
amplified impact because more people listen to you. Do you need to give Him the
keys to your life again and let Him be the Master?
If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, but want to know
more or feel yourselves wanting to have the peace and righteousness of God in
your life, today is your day. Take the time right now. Accept in your mind and heart that Jesus Christ is God’s
Son. Believe that Jesus
Christ hung and died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Confess to God your sins, wrongdoings,
and selfish desires and actions. God promises He will forgive your sins. John
the disciple of Jesus said in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He [God] is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
Will you come to God
today and let Him fill you, lead you, and show His love?
We each have
decisions to make today after James’ lesson.
[i]
Thayer and Smith, The NAS New Testament
Greek Lexicon, 1999. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/didaskalos.html).
