James 3 Living in the Quiet Way

 Scripture: James 3:10 How can we do this, speak blessing and cursing from the same mouth?

Title: Living the Quiet Way

Two weeks ago, I began teaching from the book of James. I titled James One, Living in The God Way and talked about James’ wisdom that God knew what He was doing, and we should turn to Him and let Him teach us how to live through the maze of our lives.

I titled James Two, Living in The Good Way, which consists of seeing all people as God’s children, all sin as breaking the whole Law, and all faith as being complete only when we act according to what we believe.

Today I am titling James Three as Living The Quiet Way. In this chapter James talks about getting control over our speech, learning to bless others rather than curse them, seeking to talk in ways that please God, and then finding ways to rid ourselves of selfishness, bitterness, and jealousy so that it does not impact the words we speak.

It would be fair to say that the things we say are the biggest stumbling block to our Christian behavior. Well, actually it is what is in our hearts that comes out the mouth, but if we just chose not to speak, we might find ourselves in less trouble. Hence, my title of chapter three of James – Living in The Quiet Way.

The old adage is still a good one, if we do not have something good to say, we should say nothing at all. I have been a number of silent retreats and have been very blessed by extended periods of silence. Some lasting more than a few days. However, I am not surprised since I am an introvert.

But I know that my tongue gets me in trouble often. Learning to discern when to speak, what to say, and when to remain silent. You might remember the Kenny Rogers song about the Gambler, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run.

I just want to know when to be silent, know when to speak, know when to nod my head, and know when to leave the room.

1 I know it sounds like fun to be a teacher of the Word but keep in mind that those who teach will be held to a higher standard when it comes to rightly interpreting the Word. 2 Everyone makes mistakes, we know that. Those who think they are perfect, should be able to control what they say as well as all their actions. But we know better. 3 We use bits and bridles to control a horse's mouth and it gives us control over their whole body. 4 Ships give us another example, the rudder is small and yet allows the pilot to steer the ship even when the waves and winds are fierce. 5 The tongue is small, but it allows us to boast of greater things than we can truly accomplish. Likewise, a forest rages with a large fire that begins with a small flame or a smoldering coal.

It often sounds like a fun thing to become a teacher. They have the opportunity to build a life into something wonderful or they can easily tear down a person and stifle them for years; like the teacher that told one child they would never amount to anything because they were left-handed or the music teacher who told me I should never open my mouth to sign because I didn't know the difference between a low note and a high note.

But it is not just teachers, it is all of us. When we share our opinions, we are trying to teach another person our way of thinking. People love to share their opinion about everything from diets to exercise to social change to world developments. And every time we share what we think, and every comment has potential for good or for evil.

 Sometimes we say the "right thing" and it does not come across as "right" and brings a lot of hurt to others for years to come. Solomon said, "Words spoken without thought can often pierce like a sword, but a wise word spoken at the right moment can heal deep wounds." (Proverbs 12:18 EBV)

James uses some examples of small things that have influence over something bigger, bits and bridles in horses, rudders on ships, sparks on fires. And he reminds us that the small tongue wreaks havoc when we speak.

How much control do we have over our tongue? Well, the tongue speaks what is in our heart. And we can change what is in our heart. And we can change what is in our mind. The Hebrew way of thinking believed that all of our thinking and emotions came from our heart. We can change by adjusting what we put into our hearts/minds.

And we have the ability to change what we say to others. We can think before we speak, or we can choose to not speak at all. And we can begin to change what we say so that the only words that come out of our mouths are words of encouragement and kindness. Paul suggested we, "Avoid speaking in ways that denigrate others. Use words that build others up, encourages them in the moment. We want what we say to bring God’s grace into the conversation so that all who hear our words will see the love of Jesus.” (Ephesians 4:29, EBV)

 

Apparently, we can control what we say. It just takes practice. Peter seems to believe we can control the tongue as well when he quotes King David from the psalms, "There is a way for a person to enjoy life, have their fill of love, and see goodness around them. 13 It involves being careful of what they say that it is not evil or deceitful. 14 Choose to turn around their evil ways and do good things, seek peace in every situation, and do what they can to make the peace permeate every relationship. (Psalm 34:12-14 and 1 Peter 3:10-12 EBV) David even adds that making the choice to watch our words adds immense value to our lives.

So, James warns followers of Jesus to be careful what they teach others or the opinions they share. We know that the words we speak come from the mind where we do all of our thinking, but truly, Jesus said what comes out of a man’s mouth comes from the heart of who he is. “In the way a man thinks, you will find the depth of who he is.” (Proverbs 23:7 EBV)  

Be filled with the wisdom of God as often as possible so that we can speak out of His wisdom to others for their good.

6 The tongue is a fire which ignites the unrighteous course of our lives if we are not careful of what we say. 7 We humans have been able to tame all sorts of animals including birds, reptiles, and even some fish, yet 8 no man, other than Jesus, has the ability to control their tongue; it is full of the poison of evil. 9 We use the tongue to both bless God and curse the people whom He created. 10 How can we do this, speak blessing and cursing from the same mouth? 11 Springs do not produce both clean water and bitter water. 12 Fig trees do not grow olives nor do grape vines give us figs. And we cannot drink a cup of salt water and have it taste like it is fresh.

The words we speak can bring evil and destruction. They can hurt other people, lead people astray and teach other people the lies we think are true.

Or our words can bring wonder and transformation to the people with whom we talk. With that in mind we might do well to look at some instructions from other passages of Scripture related to how we speak. "Avoid speaking in ways that denigrate others. Use words that build others up, encourages them in the moment." (Ephesians 4:29 EBV) We have the authority from Jesus to bind people up and set them free with the way we treat them. We are encouraged to speak truth, speak peace, speak a call to repentance, speak in prayer whatever we might desire for our lives, speak only what we can accomplish, speak blessings to God and from God to others, speak affirmations, and speak forgiveness of sins in the Name of Jesus. We have a lot of good to talk about.

 Even James said that no one can tame the tongue, so we need to ask God for His help in order for us to make this change in our life. And remember it will take a long time. But begin soon.

We can choose what we put into our hearts, The news, or the truth.

David begins the Psalms with “Blessed is the man who avoids wickedness, avoids listening to words that the wicked speak, avoids walking in the places where wickedness takes place and definitely does not sit down and fraternize with those who act wickedly. Instead, He delights in the Law of Yahweh. He hungers to read the Word of God and thinks about it day and night. People like that will be like a tree with a great source of soil and water that gives off healthy fruit and does not wither. This person will prosper in all that he seeks to do." (Psalm 1:1-3 EBV)

We can choose what we think about, Anxiety, fear, and doubt, or

Paul gives us a great list of good things to think about; “If it is true or noble or right, think about it. If it is pure, lovely, or admirable, think about it. Whatever you deem to be praiseworthy and perfect, think about these things. Put into practice all of the things you have learned from the Bible over the years. And God will be with you, He will inhabit the praise of His child.” (Phil. 4:8,9 EBV) 

And we can choose what we speak, we can as God to 

“Place a filter over my mouth.” (Psalm 141:3 EBV)

• James says, “out of the mouth comes both blessing and cursing, good things and evil. This is not the way things should be.” (James 3:10)

David goes on to say, “place a guard in front of the door of my lips."  

It seems to be our responsibility to tame our tongues. Apparently, it can be done. I can remember when my boys were learning the power of swear words and they loved to use them to express their feelings. But when I walked into the room, they and their friends stopped in an instant. We can turn it on and off, let's turn on the good words and encourage others around us.

13 If we are wise and understanding, we need to live with a gentle behavior that does good things for others. 14 However, when we just think of how to gain what others have and how to accomplish more for ourselves, we become arrogant and are unwilling to live by the truth. 15 This is not the way God desires us to live. This style of living comes from the evil and demonic influences that are naturally a part of this fallen world. 16 Jealousy and selfish ambition produces discord and ultimately, an evil outcome. 17 On the other hand, the wisdom that comes from God exhibits purity, peace, love, gentleness, forgiveness, and acts of kindness. God's wisdom is not partial to anyone. 18 Wherever we go, we need to demonstrate God's righteousness and do so with a desire to bring hope and resolution to everyone.

To live in the Quiet Way means to cleanse our hearts from the natural evil that exists within them and begin to fill our hearts with the wisdom and ways of Our Father in heaven. He is the One who can set loose the Holy Spirit upon us if we ask Him, and the Spirit will wander through our hearts and remind us of the sin that lurks there. Then we can repent and fill our heart with more of God's Word and ways. Then and only then will we begin to speak words that bless both God and those around us. Otherwise, let's not speak at all.

May the blessings of Jesus be upon you and may you welcome the cleansing of the Holy Spirit into your hearts this week.

Pastor Edd