The Tongue is a Fire James 3:6

When the people from the “twelve tribes scattered abroad” read the exhortations concerning the “tongue” from James, the “servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ”, they knew how the “tongue”, though small, could do a huge amount of damage. James used “bits in horses' mouths, small helms in ships, and a small flame that starts a huge fire” to show the power within the “tongue”, and in chapter three and verse six of his letter, James clearly shared how “the tongue is a fire” where we read:

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

The verse begins, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body,...” James began with the words, “and the tongue” which refers to “the small member of the body used as an organ of speech, language or dialect” “is a fire” or “fiery fire or lightning”, “a world” which means “the adorning and aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort” “of iniquity” or “injustice, unrighteousness of the heart and life”: “so is the tongue” or “the same is the small member of the body used as an organ of speech, language or dialect” “among our members” which refers to “in, by and with the limbs or parts of the body”, “that it defiles” which means “stains and spots” “the whole body” or “completely and all of the physical members in which people live”.

The verse continues, “...and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” James added, “and sets on fire” which means “ignites and operates destructively with a most pernicious power” “the course” or “circuit of physical effects” “of nature” which refers to “the source, origin, birth and nativity for existence and life”; “and it is set on fire” which means “is ignited and operates destructively with a most pernicious power” “of hell” which refers to “Gehenna which is a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction”.

When we meditate upon these words of James, we see how destructive our “tongues” may be. A loose and unbridled “tongue” “spoils” our entire walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we use it unwisely, we upset the natural “course” of the source and origin for which were we destined. Rather than leading people to a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can turn them away from Him and His Salvation. May the Lord Jesus through His Holy Spirit convict us when we begin to use our mouths destructively, and may He rather use our “tongues” to share His glorious gospel with everyone we encounter.

Next time James shares how every “beast” has been “tamed”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.