The Power and Responsibility of Our Words

### Bible Reading
1. James 3:1-12 (ESV)
2. Matthew 12:36 (ESV)
3. Psalm 141:3 (ESV)

### Observation Questions
1. What metaphors does James use to describe the power of the tongue in James 3:3-6? How do these metaphors illustrate the influence of our words? [57:16]
2. According to James 3:8, what is the nature of the tongue, and why is it described as a "restless evil"? [01:03:12]
3. In Matthew 12:36, what does Jesus say about the accountability of our words? How does this align with James' teaching? [01:08:59]
4. What does Psalm 141:3 suggest as a prayer for controlling our speech? How does this prayer reflect the need for divine help? [01:23:43]

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why does James emphasize that no human can tame the tongue on their own? What does this imply about our need for divine intervention? [01:06:02]
2. How does the wisdom from above, as described in James 3:17, help in taming the tongue? What are the characteristics of this wisdom? [01:18:35]
3. How does the concept of being held accountable for every careless word (Matthew 12:36) impact our daily conversations and interactions? [01:08:59]
4. What does it mean to "set a guard" over our mouths as prayed in Psalm 141:3? How can this be practically applied in our lives? [01:23:43]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a recent situation where your words caused harm. How could seeking divine wisdom have changed the outcome? What steps can you take to seek this wisdom in future interactions? [01:06:02]
2. James describes the tongue as a "fire" capable of great destruction. Can you identify a relationship in your life that has been damaged by words? What practical steps can you take to begin healing that relationship? [01:00:04]
3. Considering the accountability for every careless word, how can you be more intentional about your speech this week? What specific strategies can you implement to ensure your words are true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, and kind? [01:08:59]
4. The sermon mentioned the THINK acronym (True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind). Choose one aspect of this acronym and describe a specific situation where you can apply it in the coming week. [01:30:20]
5. How can you incorporate the prayer from Psalm 141:3 into your daily routine? Identify a specific time or situation where you will commit to praying this prayer. [01:23:43]
6. Reflect on the characteristics of wisdom from above (pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, impartial, and sincere). Which characteristic do you find most challenging to embody in your speech, and what steps can you take to improve in this area? [01:18:35]
7. Think about a person in your life who often brings out negative speech in you. What specific prayer or action can you take before interacting with this person to ensure your words are life-giving and aligned with God's will? [01:23:43]

Day 1: The Power of Words
Our words have immense power, capable of both creating and destroying. James uses metaphors like a bit in a horse's mouth and a rudder on a ship to illustrate how something small can control and influence so much. This should remind us to be mindful of the words we speak, as they can set the course of our lives and the lives of others. James chapter 3 emphasizes that our tongues, though small, wield immense power, capable of both great good and great harm. This stark reality should drive us to seek divine help. By asking God for help and applying His wisdom, we can ensure that our words are life-giving and aligned with His purposes. [57:16]

Proverbs 18:21 (ESV): "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."

Reflection: Think of a recent conversation where your words had a significant impact. How can you be more intentional about using your words to build up and encourage others today?


Day 2: The Inherent Danger of the Tongue
James describes the tongue as a "world of unrighteousness" and a "fire set on fire by hell." This stark description highlights the inherent danger of our words and the potential for great harm. It serves as a warning to be vigilant and seek divine help in controlling our speech. Our tongues are inherently dangerous, filled with a "world of unrighteousness" and capable of setting our lives on fire. No human can tame the tongue on their own; it is a restless evil full of deadly poison. This stark reality should drive us to seek divine help. [01:00:04]

Proverbs 16:27 (ESV): "A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when your words caused harm. What steps can you take to seek God's help in taming your tongue and preventing future harm?


Day 3: The Need for Divine Wisdom
No human can tame the tongue on their own; it requires wisdom from above. James emphasizes that this wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, impartial, and sincere. By seeking and applying this divine wisdom, we can ensure that our words align with God's will and are life-giving. This wisdom is essential for taming our tongues and ensuring that our words align with God's will. [01:12:55]

James 1:5 (ESV): "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you need divine wisdom to guide your speech? How can you actively seek this wisdom from God today?


Day 4: The Accountability of Our Words
Jesus teaches that we will be held accountable for every careless word we speak. This should instill a sense of responsibility and caution in us, prompting us to think before we speak and ensure that our words are true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, and kind. Our words have the power to create and destroy, to build up and tear down. Therefore, we must be intentional and thoughtful about what we say. [01:08:59]

Matthew 12:36-37 (ESV): "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Reflection: Consider the words you have spoken today. Are there any careless words for which you need to seek forgiveness or make amends?


Day 5: Practical Steps for Taming the Tongue
James provides practical advice for controlling our speech, including seeking God's help, thinking before we speak, and ensuring that our words are aligned with divine wisdom. By applying these principles, we can avoid the destructive potential of our tongues and use our words to build up and encourage others. The solution to our untamable tongues lies in seeking God's wisdom and allowing it to shape our speech. [01:22:18]

Colossians 4:6 (ESV): "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

Reflection: What practical steps can you take today to ensure that your speech is gracious and aligned with divine wisdom? How can you make a habit of seeking God's help in your daily conversations?

All right, here we go.We are jumping into James chapter 3 today.I hope you've been enjoying this kind of slow walk through the book of James.It's actually something that we plan to do more of in the future,just taking a book of the Bible and just slowly walking through it chapter by chapter.So I hope you've been getting something out of this.But we chose James specifically as kind of the starting point for thisbecause James is really a book of the Bible.It's really, it's the how-to book for Christian living.So James doesn't talk so much about how we get saved.He really talks about what happens after.Like now that you're saved, how do you live like a Christian?In fact, James in his book has over 50 imperatives or 50 directivesthat he gives us in only about 108 verses,which means every other verse, James is telling us to do something with our faith.And it really is about that.And it really becomes our guide.It's five chapters worth of giving us just practical wisdom for how to live as a Christian.So it's probably a really important book for all of us to read and to study and to understand,but really to apply into our lives.And so what we're going to do today is we're, it's going to be a little bit different.We're actually just going to walk through verse by verse the entire chapter of James.We're going to read it all together and it's going to be lovely.I'm going to give you context.I'm going to give you commentary and I'm going to add context to things,but we're just going to, we're just going to walk through this whole chapter.Sound good?All right.You guys are way more excited about this than first service.You had your coffee already.That's what it was, right?All right.So James chapter three, starting in verse one,we're going to be reading from the English standard version today.And it says,not many of you should become teachers, my brothers,for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.It's a great verse to read when you're standing on a stage teaching people.Like, oh, and trust me,this verse is in the back of my mind every time I'm preaching.But a couple of things I want to point out.First of all, he addresses it to his brothers.Okay.And this is not a gender specific thing.This is to talk to believers.And so all of James, but specifically James chapter three,he's emphasizing that he is writing to fellow Christians, fellow believers.And you may have a temptation today,or as you go through James,to think he's talking about other people's problems,but he's not.He's talking about Christian problems.He's talking about problems within the church.He's talking about your problems and my problems.And so we can't just ignore it thinking he's talking about somebody elsebecause he goes out of his way to let you know he's talking about you.And then of course he has here,not many of you should become teachers.And this is there most likelybecause James is addressing an issue within the church.That at the beginning of the church,there was a leadership vacuum.There was a teacher vacuum.And so a lot of people,a lot of people were trying to step into that roleeven without any qualifications or calling or giftingto step into that role.And it was getting kind of chaotic.In fact, that's why so much of the New Testamentwarns against false teachers, okay?And so he's addressing a known issue.And most likely some of these people that were stepping upgenuinely thought that they were wiseand had something to teach everybody.James would probably look at them and say,you're just immature in your faith, right?You ever met anybody like that,that thought they were really wise?And you're like, man,you got some growing up to do before you're really wise.Well, that was probably happening.There was also probably a group of peoplethat were stepping into this roleto try and get the benefits of it.That there was at that time,the view of teachers was just a high view.It was like a status symbol.And so they were trying to attain the notorietyand the fame of being a good teacher,even though they didn't have the spiritual giftingof being a teacher and nobody had called them to teach.And a lot of times their character,probably wasn't support,their lifestyle wasn't supportinga Christian character and values.So James is telling them, calm down with all that, okay?And it's actually,it's something really important for us to understandis that James is not saying that nobody should be a teacher.He's just saying that we should approach that rolewith some reverence, with some respect,because if we're gonna talk the talk, guess what?Jesus expects you to walk the walk, right?So it's not something you just step into blindly,but it is a role that is much more important to us.It's a role that is much needed in the church,not just on this stage,but it's needed in our kids' classrooms.It's needed in our youth ministry.It's needed in our small groups.It's really anywhere the church goes,anything the church does,we need strong Bible teachers, okay?So it's an important role,but just be careful how you treat that roleand why you go into it.But really what I think James is doing hereis actually a brilliant tacticthat we see him do in other places.He's addressing a known, easy to spot issueso that he can talk to people,tie it to something that is unknown.So he's giving them this,hey, y'all know that there's some bad teachers.We're gonna address that.But then he ties it into an issuethat more people are suffering,but don't necessarily know that they're in the wrong on it.So he's pointing out the obviousto talk about the not so obvious.And we're gonna see what that not so obvious thing isin the next verse.James continues,for we all stumble in many ways.So who's gonna stumble?Is that include you and me?Yes, it does.All right, and how many ways are we gonna stumble?There's a bunch of stuff.Like, thank you, James, for the encouragement.He's such an encourager, this James.And then he says,if anyone does not stumble in what he says,you might wanna highlight, circle, underline, star,that phrase in your Biblebecause it's really important for James chapter three.He says, if somebody doesn't stumble in what he says,then he is a perfect man able also to bridle his whole body.Now, what does the Bible sayabout perfect people?They don't exist.Like, this may come as a shock to you,but I'm not perfect.You're not perfect.And I think we understand that, right?And the Greek word for perfect here,it means to be finished, to be complete,to have reached the end, right?It implies this full growth and maturity.And guess what?None of us have reached the end yet, right?We're all still a work in progress.So we're not perfect yet, okay?But what James does is really interestingbecause he ties,he ties your perfection and my perfectionnot to the things we do.He doesn't tie it to how well we avoid sin.What does he tie perfection to?What comes out of your mouth.And that should be a little bit alarming for all of us, right?Like, that should be a concern.We should pay attention nowbecause how many of you in the room have a mouththat likes to get them in trouble?Is it just me?Am I the only one?Like, you have those moments where you're like,I should not have said that.You have that moment where you're like,man, I just, I wish I could have said that differently, right?Well, if you're thinking thator if you've had that moment this week, guess what?James chapter three is for you.It's great.And if you're sitting hereand you haven't had one of those momentsin the last week or so,then two options,either A, in James's word, you are perfect.I love you, but I doubt it.Or option B,you're just not paying attentionto the words coming out of your mouth.And there's probably somebody sitting next to you going,this guy really needs to watch what they say.And so James tells uswe gotta be careful of the words that we say.And then he continues in verse three.If we put bits into the mouths of horsesso that they obey us,we guide their whole bodies as well.Look at the ships also.Though they're so largeand are driven by strong winds,they are guided again by a very small rudderwherever the will of the pilot directs.So also the tongueis a small member,yet it boasts of great things.So you got a bit in a horse's mouth,you got a rudder on a ship,and you got the tongue in your mouth.All three of them,relatively small things,but contain great powerbecause they guide our lives.And so who you are todayis actually a direct resultof the words you speakand the words that somebody elsehas spoken to you,good or bad.So the second time I ever preached,we won't talk about the first time,because it was a wild story.I was on a mission trip with my parents to Brazil,and they had me preach to a group of pastors.I was like 17.It was awful.It was so bad.Like, I don't know what you guys were thinking,why you would do that to them,not even just to me,but to subject those people to that.That was just awful.I had no idea what I was doing.So then I went and I took a class on how to preach.And as a kind of a conclusion of the course,we had to preach a 20-minute sermonto our classmates and to the instructors.And so I got up there.I delivered my 20-minute sermon,sat back down.I was waiting for themto do kind of the evaluation process.And while I was waiting,somebody that I thought was a friendcame up to me and said,wow, Brent,I didn't think I could listen to your voicefor 20 minutes,but that wasn't that bad.And you know what happened that day for Brent?I developed a complex about my voice,because up until that moment,I didn't know much about it.my voice was something I should be worried about. I didn't, I was worried about the content. I wasn'tworried about my voice. And now I feel like I owe you an apology because today you're going tolisten to me for 40 minutes, not 20. I'm so sorry. Like now I hear my voice and I'm like, they'reright. It's bad. I'm so sorry. Like it changed something and something that I wasn't worriedabout. Now I'm hyper conscious, conscious of, and I got story after story after story of somethingsomeone said to me that has shaped who I am, good or bad. And my guess is you've got just as manystories or even more stories than I do because guess what? Words have power, which means whatyou say matters. So James, if you couldn't tell yet, James is kind of a bad news first kind ofguy. Like he just, he, he rips that bandaid off like so fast, so hard, like no grace whatsoever.But I love James for that. And so what, what happens here is James is going to give you moreand more and more bad news before he gives you good news. So you brace yourself. All right. That'syour warning. James 3, 5, and 6. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongueis a what? It's a fire. It's a world of unrighteousness. Uh-oh, that's a problem becausewe all have one of those. It means there's a world.There's a world of unrighteousness sitting in our mouths. Somebody smarter than me once saidthat your words create worlds. And I think that's true, but you know what else is true?Your words can destroy worlds too. It doesn't just create, it also destroys. In fact,your words can set fire to relationships. Your words can set fire to jobs. Your words can setfire to opportunities. Your words can set fire even to your very witness to others as a Christian.Your words can be destructive. It gets worse. The tongue is set among our members,staining the whole body. Your whole body is messed up because of your tongue.Setting on fire the entire course of life. Your whole life can be messed up because of your tongue.And then he says, it is a fire set on fire by hell. Like James does not play. He's not messingaround. He's looking at you going, your tongue is set on fire. You're not messing around. You're notmessing around. Your tongue is a fire straight from hell. Like, well, all right then. Thank youfor that encouragement today, James. But he's right. Every word you speak is serving one oftwo agendas. It's serving God's agenda or it's serving the devil's. It's serving heaven or it'sserving hell. Every word that comes out of your mouth. So who do your words serve? Are your wordsaligning you with God or are your words aligning you with Satan? And some of you are thinking,come on, Brent.It's just words. It ain't that serious. Calm down a little bit. Can I just remind you of thisreally, really, really famous moment between Jesus and Peter? It's found in Matthew chapter 16,if you need a refresher for it. But Jesus looks at Peter and says, get thee behind me, Satan.Anybody remember that one? You read that before? Trivia question for you. Was that in response tosomething Peter did or was that in response to something Peter said? Oh, you're seeing it now,right? Your words can betray your allegiances. And then James has some worse news for us. If itcould get any worse, here it is. For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature canbe tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restlessevil full of deadly poison. So this is a problem. And we're going to, we're going to come back toit because that's, that's a big issue. We're going to come back to that in a second, but let's talkabout the restless evil, this deadly poison, just so that you are fully on board with the fact thatyour tongue is a problem. Okay. There are some poisonous words that come out of your mouth.So like every time you lie, it's poison, which is a problem because there was a study that was donethat said that the average person lies four times a day. There was another study. This one's justwild to me. It said that, uh,60% of the people they studied could not have a 10 minute conversation with a stranger withouttelling a lie. 60%, 10 minutes, you're lying. That's crazy. But this right here is probablythe commandment that Christians most easily and most regularly break. We spit poison with our lies.You know what else is poison? Gossip. When gossip comes out of your mouth, you know what the Biblesays about gossips? That they're untrustworthy and they're meddlesome. In fact, it goes on to say thatof death. And you think gossip ain't that big a deal? See, look, gossip hurts people. It dividesrelationships. It damages reputations. Gossip is just straight up poison coming out of your mouth.How about criticism? The Bible tells us to build people up, to encourage them. And yet we spitpoison when we criticize, when we tear people down. And you know what's so sad about that isthat most often our criticism is directed at the people we actually say we love.We're spitting poison on our kids. We're spitting poison on our spouse.How about this one? Negativity. This is a weird poison because it poisons other peoplewhile poisoning yourself, right? The negativity, it robs you of joy and of peace. It leads todepression, anxiety. It leads to isolation. It's just straight poison coming out of our mouths.And we could go on and on. We could talk about the abuse that comes out of our mouths. We couldtalk about foul language. We could talk about outbursts of anger, dirty jokes. All these,there's so much poison that just comes out of our mouths so easily, so readily. But we won't believe it.I think you're on board, right? Like the tongue is dangerous. Words can kill. They can bedestructive. The Bible even goes on to say that the power of life and death is found where?power of the tongue. Okay. So let's get back to James's comment because that's a really bigproblem with our tongues. And then he goes on to say no human being can tame it. So the impossibletask in front of us is to tame the untameable. Now, when you hear James say no human being cantame the tongue, does that make you just want to say, well, I guess, you know, it's just, it is whatit is. I guess my tongue is just going to be a problem the rest of my life and I just got to dealwith it. No, he's drawing our attention to this problem, but there is a solution, right? There'sa conversation Jesus has with his disciples about salvation. And he says, they ask him, you know,how can this even be possible? And he says, with man, it's impossible. But then what does he say?But with God, all things are possible.And yeah, that conversation is about salvation, but the truth that all things are possible withGod applies here. In fact, I think that's why James, who chooses his words very carefully,said no human being can tame the tongue. He's not telling you it's impossible. He's just tellingyou that you can't do it on your own. So we're going to get to that, but we're only in verseeight and there's 18 total. So let's keep moving. So with it, with this tongue, we bless our Lordand father. And with it, we can do it. And with it, we can do it. And with it, we can do it.People who are made in the likeness of God from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. Mybrothers, these things ought not be so. James is being really clear here. Again, hey, this is animpossible task, but you still need to do it, right? Like it shouldn't be so that your mouthis being used in these two different ways, right? Quick trivia question for you. How many mouths doyou have? Just one. Last service, a couple people thought they had two. It was really interesting.Uh, but no, you, you've only got one, which means you have to choose how you're going to use it.Are you going to use the one mouth God gave you to speak life or to speak death, to build people upor to tear them down, to honor God or to speak the devil's lies? Like, what are you going to do withthe one mouth that God has given you? And James continues. He says, does a spring pour forthfrom the same opening, both fresh and salt water? No. Can a fig tree,others bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? Again, no. Neither can a salt pond yield freshwater. And so that one mouth can only really truly be used for one purpose.What are you going to use it for? And just like he's showing here, you can identify a tree by itsfruit. You can identify a person by the words that come out of their mouth. In fact, yourcoworkers should know you're a Christian. Even if you never tell them I'm a Christian, just becausethey can put together the clues based on the things that keep coming out of your mouth.Or at least they should be able to, being gentle. Let me just go ahead and sum up all 12 of theseverses in just four words for you. What you say matters. That's James's point. Like, what you saymatters. Do me a favor, tell the person sitting next to you, what you say matters. Do me a favor,turn to the other person and say, I'm sorry I didn't pick you first, but what you say matterstoo. It's true. Your words matter. In fact, we're going to leave James for just a moment. Let's lookat what Jesus has to say about our words. Jesus says in Matthew 12, I tell you that who? Everyonewill have to answer for how many? All of the what? Careless things they've said. I promise you I didnot sneak that into your Bible. It was there before you got here today. You are going to beheld accountable for every careless word that comes out of your mouth. How many of you haveever said a careless thing? More than one? More than one? More than one? More than one? More than one?More than ten? Like, how many do you think you've said? That was the question that I waswondering, and so I did some research. First, I had to determine how many words do I say?So I looked at a few different studies. Some said as low as 6,000 words are spoken a day by theaverage person. Some studies said as much as 16,000. So I just kind of took the average andwent with 11,000. So on average, you're going to speak 11,000 words today. As a preacher, I'm goingto say a lot more than that today. That's why James started with, not many of you should become preachers. Watch out. All right, so that's 11,000 today. That means about 4 million this year.In 2024, you're going to say about 4 million words. How many of those words do you think are careless?But here's the problem. You're not being held accountable just for what you say today or justwhat you say this year. It's actually at the end of your life, you're held accountable for all thewords you said in that time frame. So I did some math. So I calculated the average life expectedlifespan. I subtracted the years that you're not speaking yet because you haven't learned how.And this is the number.I came up with 281,050,000 words you're going to speak in a lifetime. There's one study thatshows it's over 800 million words you'll say in a lifetime. So this is a low number. This is theconservative number for you to make it a little bit more palatable. So of those 281 million wordsyou're going to say in your lifetime, how many of those words do you think are careless? Too many.That's right, Pastor Jerry, too many. What if we just said 1%?99% of the stuff that comes out of your mouth is great. 1% Jesus would deem as careless. That meansyou're going to be held accountable for 2 million words. Some of you are like, I really wish Brenthad not done the math. Because you were way more comfortable with your life until you realized 2million words you're going to be held accountable for. And some of us probably a lot more than that.And so if we're going to be held accountable for every single one of those 2 million words,I don't know about you, but I want to learn how to tame my tongue.Like, I want to be held accountable for every single one of those 2 million words.I want to be held accountable for a whole lot less than 2 million. And so while James says thatno man can tame the tongue, I don't think his words are meant to defeat us. I think his wordsare meant to encourage us that there is a path here, but it's not in your own strength. You'renot going to be able to do this on your own. You need help. And then for the next set of verses,the rest of the chapter, he shows us where that help actually comes from. And so in your Bible,when you turn to James chapter 3, at the top of it, there's probably,this phrase is said, taming the tongue or something like that, a little subject header line.Well, when you get to verse 12, there's a page break and there's a new section, like new header,that's probably says something like wisdom from above. Anybody with a paper Bible can confirm itsays something like that. And there, yeah. And so here's what happens though, is we get this ideabecause there's a new subject header that we think that James has now shelved the conversation aboutour words and is now picking up a new conversation about wisdom. The problem is James didn't writethat header. It's actually not original in the text. I don't know if you knew this before or not,but it's actually a late edition. The subject lines and the chapters and verses are all latereditions to make studying and reading the Bible easier for us, right? Because it gives a breakfor the eyes. It lets you kind of get your mind set around, okay, he's going to be talking aboutwisdom now. And so it kind of gives you some clues to what's going on in the Bible. And then you getwhat's going on. And the chapters and verses make things like today really easy because I can say,okay, open up your Bible to James chapter three, verse 13, right? Instead of just saying, go toJames and keep scrolling until you find the phrase. No, like it just makes study easy. It'sa great addition to the Bible. I'm so grateful for it. However, there's also a danger that'sintroduced in it where we get this idea, this implication that it's a new topic, but it's not.I don't think James is leaving one conversation to pick up another. I think that James hasfor 12 verses presented you with a problem. Your tongue is a fire from hell and you can't tame iton your own. And he doesn't just leave his readers with, well, that sucks. Like what now? No, no, no.Then he presents to you the solution. What's the solution? Can I introduce you towisdom from above? Hey, look at that. The solution to the taming the tongue problemis to receive.Wisdom from above. Isn't that good? Don't you like that? So let's remind ourselves that with man,it's impossible. With God, all things are possible. We just need his help. And here's the help. Jamesthree 13. He says, who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct. Let him show hisworks in the meekness of wisdom. This is a throwback to chapter two, where he talks aboutyour faith should be in action. Your faith should work, right? You got to show your faith. Well,now he's saying it's not just in what you do.It's actually in what you say as well. Verse 14. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. James is connecting an idea thatJesus talks about, that our words reveal our hearts, that what's in here comes out here.That's what Jesus taught in Luke chapter six. He says, good people have good things saved where?In their hearts. That's why they say good things. But those who say good things,who are evil have hearts full of evil. And that's why they say things that are evil. What peoplesay with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. What's in here comes out here. For my oldschool Christians, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Look at that. And so ifyour mouth is out of control, it might be time for a heart check because what's in here is comingout here. If there's garbage in here, there's garbage coming out here. It's beautifulconnection.It's a beautiful connection that James makes with Jesus' teaching. And then what James does is hegives a contrast from the two types of wisdom, God's wisdom and man's wisdom. Heavenly wisdom,wisdom from above, and wisdom that's not from above. And so that's what he says in the nextverse. He says, this is not, the whole heart issue, that's not wisdom that comes down fromabove, but it is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Remember, the demonic, he's tying it back to thetongue, is from hell, right? A fire from hell. It's demonic.Jealousy and selfish ambition exist. There will be disorder and every vile practice, okay? And sothere's a verse in 1 Corinthians 3 where Paul says that the world's wisdom is foolishness to God,right? There's a difference between earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. In fact, earthly wisdom,when it comes to our tongue, says things like, sticks and stones may break my bones, but wordswill never hurt me. How many of you have realized by now that's straight up garbage, right? Like,I came across this one. I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don'tknow. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.Recently, the worldly wisdom says that white lies are actually necessary in healthy relationshipsbecause they can help spare people's feelings. No, thank you, okay? Worldly wisdom says thatembellishing your accomplishments is a great way to get the job you've always dreamed of.Hold up a second. The world's wisdom says to just speak your mind, to share your two cents,to set people straight with your words. World's wisdom says that cuss words are sometimes justthe best words to describe how you really feel inside. And I've got to take, I didn't elaborateon the others. I've got to take a moment on that one. I've got to, can I get the soapbox out andjust, there are way too many Christians that have gotten way too comfortable with cussingbecause this verse is in their Bible. It's in yours too, Ephesians 4, 29.Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth. So is it okay for just some unwholesome words?What about just a few?A few unwholesome words. What about just when you like stub your toe? What if that unwholesome wordis just the best word to describe the deep, complex, strong emotions that you're feelingright now? There's no caveat. There's no, but here it's okay. Or in this situation, it's okay. No,it's just straight up no. Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth. And so as lovingly andgently as I can possibly tell you today, if you're the kind of Christian that's been comfortable withsome talk coming out of your mouth, clean up your mouth because your mouth is betraying your heart.That there's something in here that's coming out here that's not okay. And it's betraying a heartissue and it's betraying a self-control issue. That if you can't control this, what else are younot controlling? All right, soapbox moment is over. Slide that thing over. We'll get back on that thingnext week. And so here's what James does.He redirects our attention, not from the earthly demonic wisdom, but from the heavenly wisdom,the wisdom from above. And he says that the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, impartial and sincere. Eight things that thiswisdom from above entails. And we'll come back to those eight things in just a moment,but let's finish off the chapter. He says,and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Your word,our seeds that you're planting into the lives of other people. The question is, what are youplanting? What are you sowing? And so I said, we're going to come back to this because if theentire chapter is about introducing the problem of our tongues, the fact that we can't tame itourselves, that we need God's help, and then it ties into this wisdom from above, then guess what?This wisdom from above is not so much about the things you're doing. It's actually about thethings you're saying.That now wisdom from above shapes your words so that they're pure and peaceable and gentle andopen to reason and full of mercy and good fruits and impartial and sincere. Let's take a look atthose. So first of all, wisdom from above means that your words will now be pure. Pure in theGreek means undivided, right? Which means that your words have a singular focus, and that iswhatever honors God. The words coming out of your mouth are designed to honor God, nothing else.They're pure.Yeah.The wisdom from above says that your words are now going to be peaceable and gentle, right? Becausehere's worldly wisdom. You know exactly what to say to win the argument, but we're not trying towin arguments. We're trying to win people. And so we're not going to choose to escalate situations.We're going to deescalate situations because we're going to choose peaceable and gentle words. Ourwords are going to be open to reason and full of mercy. Open to reason means they're not going tobe argumentative.Even when you're passionate about your views, even when you know that you know that you knowthat you're right and the other person is wrong, your words are still, because they're graced withwisdom from above, your words are still going to be open to reason. People are going to want tohave that conversation with you. You ever not want to have a conversation with somebody because theyjust try and beat you up? Not when you have wisdom from above. That your words are going to be fullof mercy. That even when you want to give that person a piece of your mind and they 100% deserve,your wittiest comeback. Wisdom from above tells you to give them the same grace and mercy that Godhas given you. And so you're going to be, your words are going to be full of mercy instead. Thatyour words are going to bear good fruits. We already established your words are producingsomething. It's producing something in the lives of somebody else. We don't want rotten fruit bornout of cold, bitter words. We want good fruit. And that comes from the wisdom from above. Our wordsare impartial and sincere.Impartial means that we don't play favorites with our words. We're not praising our boss so he cangive us a raise while bashing our co-workers because they can't do anything for us. Your wordsare uplifting regardless of the power the person you're talking to holds in your life. They'reimpartial. They're sincere. You're not saying one thing behind somebody's back and somethingdifferent in front of their face. Because your words are just sincere because it's coming froma heart that genuinely loves people because Christ commanded it. So the wisdom from above,it actually comes in and it shapesour words so they fit these criteria so that we're speaking life and not death. So the milliondollar question then is how do you get that wisdom from above? Thank you, Jaden, for asking such awonderful question. The answer is actually given to us in James chapter one. James gives the answerin verse five. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him what? Ask God. You need wisdom from above,ask for it. Ask God who gives generously to all,without reproach, and it will be given him. So if you need help with your words,and I think we've established today that we all do, then ask God for help. You can start everymorning with God, help me not let my mouth get me in trouble today. Amen. You know, before I go intoan important meeting, I'll pray a prayer. God, help me choose my words wisely today. I've beenin the middle of a conversation with somebody and I realize it's going south fast.And it's probably because of the words that I'm using. I'll stop right there under my breath.Jesus, I need some help with these words because I'm not communicating the way I need to.I love the prayer that David prays. Psalm 141, David says, set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth.Keep watch over the door of my lips. I think some of us need a double armed guard, like just lockthat thing down. And maybe you can relate to this. Maybe you've got that one person in your life thatjust makes all of this so much harder.You just got that one person. You're good with your tongue all the other times, but that personcomes around. And sadly, it might be your boss. For some people, it's their spouse. Some people,it might be your kid that just knows how to push that one button so well. Maybe you got that friendthat they come around and all of a sudden you just start saying stuff. Whoever it is, you know whatyou do before you start a conversation with that person? You pray this prayer. Say, God, set a guardover my lips. Like, protect my words. Like, help me choose my words. And then you say, God, I needhelp me not say the wrong thing in the wrong way. And according to James and supported by my ownpersonal experience, when you ask God for help, he gives it to you. But here's the thing. We'rekind of out of time, but we're not quite done yet. Because here's the thing. If all we did was say,God, give me wisdom, and then we expect him to just kind of take our tongues and wag it for us,or just kind of like treat us like a puppet, and the only thing that comes out of our mouths iswhat God is saying, that's not how life works. I don't know if you've experienced that. I don't knowif you've experienced that before. That'd be really weird. God doesn't do that. Instead, whathappens is God gives us wisdom, but then we have to use it, right? When the wisdom from above says,keep your mouth shut, guess who has to keep their mouth shut? You do, right? Like, I know this ismind-blowing, right? This is deep stuff. But if you are getting the wisdom from above, it's stillon you to apply the wisdom, to follow the wisdom through. When you have spent 30 minutes in thewith the perfect insult or comeback or response to that person, you've been meditating on thisthing, and you are ready to just let it rip. And then wisdom from above comes in and says,say something nice. What are you gonna do? You can go with the rehearsed speech,or you can say something nice. You still have to actually use the wisdom from above.I was going into a meeting where I was there to bring heavy correction against somebody,deservingly, I believe. And as I'm walking into the,the meeting, the wisdom from above said, just ask them how they're doing. Completely changed theconversation. Years ago, I had somebody hurt me behind my back. They said some things behind myback that were designed, they were intentional to hurt me, and they did. And I found out about it.They didn't know that I knew it was them, but when I found out about it, I was, I was ready toconfront them. And so I had, I had thought through, I prayed about it even, and I was ready to confrontthem. Walking over to them.And wisdom from above said, hey, instead of that, just apologize to them.I was like, get thee behind me, Satan, becauseI'm, I'm the one that needs to receive an apology. I'm not the person that's supposed to give theapology. I don't know if you know how this works, but the, the person that has been offended is notthe one that apologizes. But can I just tell you that following the wisdom from above, it's notalways easy.Sometimes in my life, I have ever regretted the wisdom from above is when I didn't listen to it.And so the best way that we can follow that wisdom from above is to think before we speak.Proverbs 10, 19 says, a person who talks too much gets into trouble.Don't, don't look at the person in the room that, that applies to. But a wise person learns to bequiet. Like the Bible just straight up said, say less, fam. That's beautiful. I love it.How about President Lincoln?Like better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.Lincoln just throwing them haymakers. And maybe what some of us need is it's a lesson that I'mtrying to learn. It's, it's the acronym WAIT, W-A-I-T. Why am I talking? Right? So, so if youwant to be held accountable for less words, you should probably say less words in your life,right? Because our words, there's something dangerous about our words.In fact, David, can you come up here? I got a, an object lesson that this is old school. This is anold, old, old one. In fact, I wasn't going to do it, but we were talking about in sermon planning,we had a bunch of staff members that, that had never seen this done before. And so here's whatwe're going to do. So the toothpaste in here is going to represent your words. And so here's whatI need you to do. I just need you to squeeze out every last drop. Just get it all out. You know,you had a frustrating day. You just got to, I'm not going to judge you for the way you're squeezingthat thing. But, um, yeah, just get every last,every word, you know, the, the gossip, the lies, the frustration, the anger, the resentment,even the good stuff, like just every word, you just got to get every word out there.And that's how sometimes we approach life. Like we just, we just try and empty ourselves,just pour out every last word that we've got. Awesome. You got all of it almost. There you go.Last, last drop. Perfect. Awesome. All right. That's beautiful. Thank you for that, thatassistance. Now, um, we're going to do this, uh, illustrate, well, actually I'm just,I'm kind of cheap and there's a lot of toothpaste. And so if you could just put it all back inthere so I can use it at home later. So just, just put all the toothpaste, just back in thetube. get it. Come on, man. Get it back in there. What's the matter? Yeah, it's not working.It's not going to work. Thank you. I appreciate that. So this is the lesson behind this is onceit's out, it's out. Like once you let those words fly, look, you can apologize. But even after theapology is, it's not enough. It's like a bandaid on something, right? That there you've alreadycaused the damage. You've already caused the wound. You've, you've already broken trust. You'vealready damaged the relationship. You've already hurt the person and you can't bring those wordsback once they're out. And so the solution then is to be really careful with what we let out.So we need to think before we speak. It's old school day at CLC because we're going with thatold acronym. T-H-I-N-K. Think before you speak. So before the words come out of your mouth,you need to go through this checklist. Is what I'm about to say actually,true? Am I about to say a little bit of a white lie to make myself feel good or make myself lookgood? Is what I'm about to say actually just gossip or a rumor? Do I even know if this is true?And, and in the 21st century, we got to understand that words are not just what comes out here.It's also what comes out here, right? And so is what I'm typing is what I'm sharing on socialmedia. Is it actually true? I once heard a preacher say that you are never more like the devil thanwhen you're telling a lie.Devil's native language. It's a language we shouldn't be speaking. So first, is it true?Second, is it helpful, right? The words coming out of our mouth should benefit the person hearingthem. Is it going to help the situation? John Maxwell has a leadership principle that's brilliant.He says that every leader carries around with them two buckets, a bucket of gasoline and a bucket ofwater. And when you're leading in your organization, you come across a fire, a problem, an issue,you've got to choose.Which bucket you're going to use? Are you going to make the problem worse? Or are you going to makethe problem better? Right? Gasoline and water. It's a brilliant leadership principle. But you knowwhat? I think it's actually a better principle for the words that come out of our mouths.What are you going to choose? Something that's harmful or something that's helpful. When yourkid comes home from school with a bad report card, which bucket are your words going to come from?Is it going to be gasoline on that fire? Or you can create a new argument when, when your,your spouse promises.You're going to do something. They break that promise. They fail that promise. And you're readyto just let them have it. Which bucket are your words coming from? Gasoline or water. When yourcoworker drops the ball on the project, you've got to choose your words. Is what I'm going to sayactually going to help the situation? Or is it going to be harmful in the situation? Is itinspiring? Are my words actually going to motivate the person that's hearing them? When, when somebodyleaves a conversation with you, do they feel uplifted and encouraged or do they feel defeated?They feel like the air has been let out of the tire. Do they feel hopeless?They feel defeated in this conversation. We should be inspiring people with our words to beand to do everything that God called them to be and to do. I want my words to inspire people,make them feel like they can take down hell with a water pistol. Like just, just want to get thatfire in them.But are my words going to inspire? Are these words necessary? Do I actually need to say this?Am I going to just regret having said this? And not about you, but I find that when I'm upset,often the words that I say just make me feel better. They didn't actually help the situationat all because they weren't actually necessary. I didn't need to say them. I just wanted to saythem. Voltaire said that everything that you say should be true, but not everything true should besaid.Sometimes when you don't actually need to say it.Sometimes the best thing you can do.Wisdom from above says keep your mouth shut.Is it necessary?And finally, is it kind?How are my words making somebody feel?My default setting, I don't know if you know this about me,but my default setting is sarcasm.It's a skill I picked up as a kid,perfected it as a teenager, and now as an adult,I speak that better than I speak English.Like it's just, sarcasm just rolls off my tongue.It's just, it's second nature.And I gotta be real careful though,because a lot of times that sarcasmsounds or becomes unkind words in the ears of others.And the Bible says that we're called to encourage,but we're called to speak truth in what?In love.And so if the words that are coming out of your mouthare cruel, even when they're true,if there's no truth,if there's no love in them,then you need to pick better words.In fact, oftentimes it's not what you say,it's how you say it.And so you can say something true in a kind wayor in an unkind way.And you know how you know the difference?You gotta stop and you gotta think before you speak.I don't know if this counts as wisdom from aboveor just mama's wisdom,but if you ain't got nothing nice to say,she wouldn't say nothing at all, right?So make sure that your words are kind.So this is what we're gonna do.We're gonna think before we speak.Is it true?Is it helpful?Is it inspiring?Is it necessary?And is it kind?Because ultimately what you say matters.Your words have power.So this is James chapter three.Your tongue is dangerous.It's a fire from hell that can burn down worlds.And so you need to do something about it.But no human being can tame the tongue.So you need help from God.You need wisdom from above.So that you don't say the wrong thingsat the wrong time in the wrong way.You need that wisdom from above.And so you just ask God for help.And then when he gives you that wisdom,use it.Think before you speak.Sound good?Let's pray.So Father God, we just thank you forthis time that we've been able to have together in your word.We thank you because Father,you have given us wisdom from above that we need.So Father, we just,we recognize today all across the room,everybody watching online,we recognize that our words have been dangerous,that our words have already set some fires to things.So we ask right now that you would help heal some relationshipsthat have been damaged by our words.That you would bring some forgiveness and mercy and graceinto those situations.But God, while we can't change the past,we can keep from saying those things in the future.But we need your help.We recognize no human being can tame the tongue.It's wild and it's deadly.But we know that with you, all things are possible.So we just collectively, we just ask right now,Holy Spirit, give us wisdom from above.Help us in our words.Help us to say the right things.That we wouldn't respond to people out of emotionor anger or frustration,but we would take a breath and take a momentto ask you for help.And when you give us that wisdom,we would actually use it.Help us to think before we speak.For every single person listening to this message,I just ask on their behalfthat you would put a guard over our mouths.our mouths would not be the thingthat gets us in trouble.Wouldn't be the thing that destroys relationships,destroys our witness.that you would take every single wordthat comes out of our mouthsit would be honoring to you.would be used for the kingdom.And not for Satan.Help us with our words today, in Jesus' name.I'm gonna ask you to go ahead and stand to your feet.We're gonna close out the service with a song.And here's the thing.I think that some of you need to have a moment with God.To just say, God, what have I been sayingthat I shouldn't be saying?What's been going on with my words?And take this time to ask God to help youcontrol your tongue the way he's called us to.Let's worship together.

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "Who you are today is actually a direct result of the words you speak and the words that somebody else has spoken to you, good or bad." [57:16] (10 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Every word you speak is serving one of two agendas. It's serving God's agenda or it's serving the devil's. It's serving heaven or it's serving hell. Every word that comes out of your mouth. So who do your words serve?" [01:01:35] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Your words can set fire to relationships. Your words can set fire to jobs. Your words can set fire to opportunities. Your words can set fire even to your very witness to others as a Christian. Your words can be destructive." [01:00:04] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "If you need help with your words, and I think we've established today that we all do, then ask God for help. You can start every morning with God, help me not let my mouth get me in trouble today. Amen." [01:22:18] (15 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "Your words are seeds that you're planting into the lives of other people. The question is, what are you planting? What are you sowing?" [01:19:53] (9 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




### Quotes for Members

1. "James is not saying that nobody should be a teacher. He's just saying that we should approach that role with some reverence, with some respect, because if we're gonna talk the talk, guess what? Jesus expects you to walk the walk, right?" [53:08] (13 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "James ties your perfection and my perfection not to the things we do. He doesn't tie it to how well we avoid sin. What does he tie perfection to? What comes out of your mouth." [55:44] (13 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "James is connecting an idea that Jesus talks about, that our words reveal our hearts, that what's in here comes out here. That's what Jesus taught in Luke chapter six. He says, good people have good things saved where? In their hearts. That's why they say good things." [01:14:20] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "If your mouth is out of control, it might be time for a heart check because what's in here is coming out here. If there's garbage in here, there's garbage coming out here." [01:14:20] (9 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "The wisdom from above says that your words are now going to be peaceable and gentle, right? Because here's worldly wisdom. You know exactly what to say to win the argument, but we're not trying to win arguments. We're trying to win people." [01:19:53] (15 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)