Continue readingSo also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:5-8
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Taming the Tongue?
James 3:1-12 is a well known portion of scripture about the mighty fires set by a small tongue. We put bits in horses mouths and rudders on great ships to steer them, and the tongue is a small member as well that boasts of great things.
The ESV and NIV subject headings title this passage Taming the Tongue. I prefer the NKJV headline, The Untamable Tongue. James doesn’t give a command to tame the tongue or instructions on how one might do so. He actually writes that “no human being can tame the tongue.” He compares blessings and cursings coming from the same mouth to a spring that gives fresh and salt water, concluding that “these ought not to be so.” He does not say, however, that anything can be done about it.
Your thoughts?
The Master's Table 