The Transformative Power of Words and the Heart

2. "So James doesn't exclude himself. He includes himself and says, we all stumble. All of us stumble. We all sin. We all have brokenness. All of us. We all stumble. And then he goes on to say, if you're perfect in what you say, then you must be able to control your whole body. You must have no sin. You're perfect. Of course, he's being a little sarcastic here because there's only one person that's ever been perfect or ever will be, and that is Jesus." [00:37:05] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Our tongues have the ability to change the direction of our lives and the lives of other people. James gives us two examples of how this would work. Okay, the first example is a horse's bit. So this is a horse's bit. It fits inside the horse's mouth. And then the reins that the rider is holding on to are attached to the circle at the end of the bit on either side. So this is how it works. The rider would pull, say, on the right side, and that bit would pull on the horse's right side, and it would cause the horse to turn." [00:38:24] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And James is saying, that's what your tongue is like. It's this small member of your body, but it can control the direction of life. So let me give a little bit more practical example. As James talked about in the first verse, when we're teaching God's Word, we actually have the ability then to, in some way, direct life. And if we teach God's Word incorrectly, we could be leading people astray. Going in the wrong direction." [00:40:00] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "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. Okay, those are some strong words there, James. But here we come across the second reason why our tongues need taming. Our tongues set life on fire. Now, not literally. Our lives don't, you know, our bodies don't turn to flame. But metaphorically speaking, it destroys lives." [00:43:21] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "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. And here's our third reason why our tongues need taming, because our tongues can inject an evil deadly poison into others and into the world." [00:46:24] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "With it, with our tongues, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth the same opening, both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives? Or a grapevine? Produce figs. Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water." [00:47:44] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "You need to recognize that your words are an indication of your heart, and therefore, your true spiritual condition. So let's be clear. We don't have a tongue problem. We have a heart problem. We have a heart problem. That's why our tongue says the things that they do, because we have sinful, broken hearts, and we have a heart problem. And Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." [00:51:39] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "So first, we have to accept that we can't tame it, because we can't tame our own hearts. We can't fix our own hearts. Only God can. He's the only one who can. He's not a human being. He's not the created. He is the creator, and he can change our hearts. So secondly, we need to give God our hearts and our tongue daily." [00:52:59] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Ways to help tame your tongue. But let's come back to how do you tame your tongue? Let's remember the heart of this is that we can't do it on our own. We can't do it on our own. We cannot tame our own tongues. Why? Because we can't tame our own hearts. Because we're sinful. We're broken. So we have to come to Christ and allow Him to do that transforming work in our hearts." [01:02:36] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)