Category: James

“We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. 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.”

In our current social and political climate, I resonate so strongly with the reality that “the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.” We’ve seen a lot of forest fires when evil words are spoken. Christians are lining up to form bucket brigades in these testing moments, and I believe there are unfortunately more to come. Whoever said that words had less power than sticks and stones had no idea what they were talking about.

When our tongues reveal our inner hate or evil, the fire that comes from that is a destructive one. It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit fell upon his people with the image of tongues of fire, symbolically replacing the destructive fire with one that can refine, purify, and heal. Our powerful, damaging words replaced by a greater power that transforms us and our world.

Don’t be limited (and even controlled) by your own natural use of language. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak through you and for you, both in your native language to speak the truth and in supernatural languages as God releases you and gifts you. Supernatural encounters are not designed to be “cool” experiences that we seek out for the sake of the experience. Rather, Spirit-controlled tongues create an supernatural encounter with the world as we enter into a spiritual battle far beyond our understanding.

Take a moment to read James 3:7-12 before reading the devotional below.

When I was learning how to drive, my mother repeated one phrase over and over (and it still comes to mind at times when I am driving even now): a car is a dangerous weapon. Today’s passage has a similar message: your tongue is a dangerous weapon. Let’s use the analogy of driving a car for a moment. Suppose you are a careful driver who is very aware of the dangers on the road and you faithfully go the speed limit. If this is central to your belief system about how a car should be handled, you are not likely to suddenly decide to drive 100mph on the highway just for kicks. You would see that as counter to your philosophies of driving and you would choose not to engage in this type of reckless behavior.

Your faith and your tongue have a similar relationship. If at the core of your beliefs you are aware that your tongue is a dangerous weapon, you will be very careful how you use it. In this case, our “speed limit” is God’s words about being slow to speak. When our faith is not fully integrated into our thoughts and behavior, we quickly forget this wisdom and our tongue speaks evil (at times even on the same day that we also use it to praise God). Understanding how and when to use your tongue is central to understanding how to follow Jesus.

You do not need to fear it (just as I do not fear driving my car). You need to respect its power. You need to respect the way your flesh can take over the words of your mouth. Practice periods of silence, both when you are alone and when you are with others. Take 24 hours to practice being slow to speak. Experience the freedom that comes with holding your tongue. Then, when you have a word to speak into someone’s life, it will penetrate their heart like a sword as the Holy Spirit uses your words to win a victory for you and for the other person.

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.”

It is really regretful that we as Americans are so detached from the process of growing our food. Perhaps if you have done some gardening, you are closer than many of us to really connecting with the idea of planting seeds and reaping a crop. Today’s verses talk about ways we can examine the fruit of our lives to determine if we are following God’s ways or Satan’s. James breaks it down very clearly for us here.

You have two kingdoms: God’s and Satan’s. In God’s kingdom, life, health, peace, abundance, and love grow. In Satan’s kingdom, you find death, disorder, strife, poverty and hate. When you examine aspects of your life or the world around you, you can easily see where God is growing good fruit versus where Satan is destroying you. (And here’s a hint: jealousy, selfishness, boasting, lying, and evil are demonic inventions of Satan.)

James is giving us a huge insider tip here as he lets us know that wisdom = humility = good works = fruit of following God’s ways. Your heart will be crippled and diseased if you believe all the lies in your head that tell you someone else is better than you or that you should just look out for yourself. There are lots of reasons we protect ourselves, especially when we have been hurt in the past. But no matter what your story, you have full access to the wisdom of God and ultimately to a humble attitude that will set you free. Jesus was totally free of all of these evil things because his heart was humble and aligned with God. Imitation of his life is guaranteed to release you from the clutches of a hard and evil heart.

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”

Remember from James 1:5-6 that God gives away wisdom like its free candy. No hoops, no strings attached. Wisdom flowing from heaven through the Holy Spirit and through the words of Scripture. So exactly how do we know when we encounter real wisdom from God versus earthly philosophies that sound nice in the moment?

These verses give us some very specific descriptors: pure, peace loving, gentle, yielding to others, fully of mercy and good deeds, doesn’t choose favorites, sincere, and bringing a harvest of righteousness. That is some pretty supernatural stuff. Sadly, this list is not what most people would like if they were to describe “Christians” they know.

Jesus’ way is a way of pure and sincere wisdom, that brings peace and puts the needs of others first. His way is gentle and merciful. If you are a follower of Jesus, when you plant seeds of peace you get a whole crop of righteousness in your life. Jesus’ way is better than any human or earthly kind of thinking. Be your free self today by living a life that makes use of God’s divine wisdom. It will always end up better than any other way you can think of.

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

We’ve all experienced inner conflict. But have you ever thought about the fact that your insides are trapped in a constant war? Paul wrote about this in Romans 7 (and we may jump over to Romans when we finish with our James series!). We make up our mind to live in certain right ways — anyone ever made a New Year’s Resolution?? Usually we lose before we even get a tiny win. There seems to be this giant force defeating us all the time. Some call it the “devil on your shoulder.” The Bible calls it your flesh, which is the part of you that carries evil desires around and acts without your permission sometimes when you least expect it.

Today’s verses are all about those evil desires that none of us want to admit we have. When was the last time you wanted something you couldn’t have? How often do you experience jealousy? Our American culture and economy is almost entirely based on climbing to the top of a ladder often driven by greed and competition. Here James points out that this is not at all how the kingdom of God works. God’s system starts with aligning your desires and motives to his, seeking what he wants for you, asking him for that, and receiving it.

Consider Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit is what God has for you. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Want more of these and you will always get them. It is the most clear and comprehensive list of the good gifts God has for you. They are yours. Anytime. Everything you think you want or need doesn’t compare to the free life you can have with these gardens of the Spirit growing in your soul.