Summer Heat
James 3:1-12
August 17, 2025
“Do you kiss your mom with that mouth?”
INTRO: As we continue our “Summer Heat” series, we come to the book of James. I’m sure that many of you figured that I would get there eventually. Today, we’ll look at a passage that has often been labeled, “
The Terror Of the Tongue!”
James 3:1–12 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
2 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.
3 Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
4 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.
5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
6 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.
7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
- The main point.
- Keep control of what you say!
- This is easy to say….
- But it isn’t so easy to do.
- If you can control your tongue, you can have self-control in other areas of your life!
- If you lack control over your tongue, you probably will lack control over other areas of your life as well.
- I guess controlling our tongue is pretty important then, isn’t it?
- Verse 2 tells us that this control IS possible!”
- But it sure isn’t easy!
- First, The examples
- Bits and horses
- A bit is tiny, compared to the horse.
- If you direct the horse the right way, much can be accomplished!
- If you direct a horse the wrong way, you can get into trouble!
- Ships and rudders
- The rudder is tiny, compared to the ship.
- If you direct the ship properly, cargo gets where it’s supposed to.
- If you direct the ship in the wrong way, you can get into trouble!
- Forests and fire
- Hundreds of thousands of acres can burn because of a single campfire.
- If you handle fire correctly, it is one of the most useful things humans have.
- You can cook.
- You can stay warm.
- You can scare off predators.
- You can get rid of stuff you don’t want.
- You can even use fire as a cleaning tool.
- If you don’t handle fire correctly, you can get into trouble!
- If you handle your tongue correctly, it can accomplish great things!
- Winston Churchill rallying the people of England during WWII.
- If you don’t “handle” your tongue correctly, you can get into trouble!
- You can bring hurt to yourself.
- You can cause hurt to others.
- Adolph Hitler rallying his people during WWII.
- What’s so bad about the tongue?
- The tongue boasts.
- It writes checks your body can’t cash.
- This boasting can cause you to try to do things you have no business doing.
- Your boasting can cause someone else to feel insignificant, or make them feel like they have to do something to “keep up.”
- The tongue is “the very world of Iniquity.”
- Our tongues say terrible, sinful things.
- This is because the tongue often repeats what the mind is thinking.
- Perhaps if we clean up our minds, our speech will follow?
- The things that come out of our mouths defile the whole body.
- “Do you kiss your momma with that mouth?”
- If you vomit all over yourself, you’re pretty well “defiled…”
- When you speak in an evil way, it’s just as bad, or maybe worse.
- Our tongue can set our lives on fire.
- Huge amounts of damage can come…
- To your relationships.
- To your reputation.
- To your whole life.
- The tongue cannot be totally tamed.
- Our tongues speak in ways that are good… and bad.
- All kinds of animals are tamed by humans.
- Tongues, not so much!
- It’s a “restless evil.”
- Our tongue is always looking for that unguarded moment.
- Often, that moment comes when we are angry! (Or “Hangry”)
- Our tongues are “full of deadly poison.”
- People often heal faster from a broken bone than they do from hateful words.
- People carry what someone has said to them throughout their lives.
- Our perception of who and what we are is often shaped by those hateful words. Especially when they come from someone who is an authority in our life.
- Our tongue can be used for good, or for evil.
- We “bless our Lord and Father” with our tongues.
- This is good and right.
- God is great!
- He sent Jesus to save us!
- He deserves to be praised!
- We curse people, made in His image with the same tongue.
- Curse isn’t just foul language….
- Cursing in this instance is more about trying to bring harmful things down on them.
- “I know exactly what kind of awful person you are!”
- “I hope you go to hell!”
- “I wish you were dead!”
- You’ll never amount to anything!”
- This isn’t how things should be!!!
- This verse is actually full of hope.
- If there was no possibility that we could ever gain any kind of control over our tongues, why would God allow James to say this?
- It would be pointless!
- But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can make this happen.
- A fountain doesn’t put out fresh and salty water.
- It’s one or the other.
- Salt will disperse itself evenly through fresh water.
- A fig can’t produce olives.
- A vine can’t produce figs.
- God made plants to “produce after their kind.
- So, be a “tree” that produces good fruit!
- You don’t dip up a bucket of water in the middle of the ocean and find it to be un-salty.
- We need to make the effort to be a Fresh water Spring.”
What can I apply to my life from James today?
- Your tongue is a dangerous thing!
- A restless evil.
- You must constantly be on guard.
- It’s like keeping a wild predator around.
- Don’t let it out of it’s cage!
- Full of deadly poison.
- One bite can be fatal!
- You never know what damage a careless word can do.
- It’s even worse when we use our tongue to hurt people on purpose!
- A fire that is lit by the fires of hell!
- Humans have an inclination to try to make themselves seem better, or more important by belittling others.
- It is very easy to allow ourselves to look for those who are weaker and to harm them.
- Your tongue is also capable of doing great good.
- You can praise God with your tongue.
- You can build others up with your tongue.
- You can give credit where it is due.
- You can thank others for what they do.
- You can share Jesus with your tongue.
- You can show your love to others through your words.
- You can encourage someone to great service!!
- Unfortunately, your tongue is also capable of doing great harm.
- You can drive the despondent to the point of death.
- You can steal the hope from someone who is striving to do something great.
- Your words can do damage that may never be undone.
- “Like a bullet from a gun, once you speak, your words cannot truly be taken back.”
Anonymous.
- You can apologize, but you cannot erase the memory of what you have said.
- Time may heal the wound, but it won’t get rid of the scar!
- What you say reflects what’s in your mind.
- If you aren’t thinking it, it won’t just come popping out of your mouth!
- Guard your thoughts.
Matthew 15:17–20 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
- Not only is it possible to do better at “Taming your tongue,” it is expected!
James 3:2 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.
- Taming your tongue is a good step in being more like Jesus!
- If you can do that, you are well on your way to having control of the rest!
Keep your tongue under control! Don’t give it an unguarded moment!
