“Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” – James 3:5-10
As the battlefield in your spiritual warfare is often in your mind, this is connected to another important part of the disciplined Christian life in the struggle to use your tongue wisely in battle. Sometimes you may fool yourself into thinking so but remember that your heart isn’t disconnected to your tongue. For “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”. (Matthew 12:34) As the Apostle James teaches you in James 3 above, your tongue is an unruly evil that’s full of poison. Left unbridled, it will run in fiery rebellion and leave carnage in its wake.
It’s true with every aspect of spiritual warfare that your heart is where the battle begins. It’s what you need to examine when you’ve sinned, need to repent, and return to wisely restrain your tongue. Solomon taught his son, and teaches you great lessons regarding the need and blessing of holding your tongue in the Book of Proverbs:
- “Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.” (Proverbs 10:14)
- “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” (Proverbs 17:27-28)
- “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.” (Proverbs 21:23)
See how true knowledge and the increasing amount of it, as you remain a good student of Christ and His Word, is an important marker and source of godly wisdom. And yet, no matter how hard you try to contain it, in your weakness, sin in your heart will manifest itself in some form or fashion in what comes out of your mouth. As the Apostle James teaches you in James 3:2, with the exception of Christ, no one is a perfect man. We all stumble in many things, even with our words.
In light of this, your focus to have a disciplined life by the grace of the Spirit applying that knowledge and utilizing godly wisdom, must include controlling your tongue and making that a priority. Let’s consider a few common scenarios that make doing so challenging. These can be fueled by anger, pride, fear, envy, or a combination:
- When anger is on the rise within you, it’s never Ok to let your tongue fly unguarded, uncontrolled. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a repeated argument with your spouse, your kids have gotten on your last nerve, or someone irritated or offended you at work or church, etc. Even if you need to give a righteous rebuke, that doesn’t mean you can rightly feel justified in flying off the handle with your words and act like a fool. Sometimes it easy to rationalize in our own minds, or to others, why we in essence “had” to sin with our words. But, think about it this way- a calm man saying few words can issue effective correction, give a rebuke, or verbally defend himself without ramping up or exploding.
- Gossip, slander, and the like are clear sins of the tongue. In Westminster Larger Catechism 144 and 145, Question 144 speaks positively of the duties you have in keeping the 9th Commandment. The duties of restraint and the good use of the tongue are “speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice, and in all other things whatsoever; a charitable esteem of our neighbors; loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name; sorrowing for and covering of their infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency; a ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of an evil report, concerning them; discouraging talebearers, flatterers, and slanderers; love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth;” Question 145 lays out sins that are forbidden in relation to the 9th Commandment. Those that relate to a poor use of the tongue include, “speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, talebearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, and partial censuring; misconstructing intentions, words, and actions; flattering, vainglorious boasting, thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others;”
- Thinking more about your tongue in battle, what about bad or foul language?
- Is it a sinful use of your tongue to swear and cuss, even if it’s to defend and ward off wolves? In his commentary on the pastoral epistles, John Calvin wrote that a pastor needs two voices. He “needs one voice for gathering the sheep; and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves.” The gathering voice draws believers toward biblical truth, nourishing them with sound doctrine and pastoral care. It’s gentle, patient, and nurturing. It’s designed to feed the flock and strengthen your faith. The voice of warning isn’t harsh for harshness’ sake, but clear and courageous when clarity and courage are needed. Paul demonstrated this voice when confronting error in the churches, as did the prophets when calling out injustice and idolatry, as did Christ when He cleansed the Temple. But what should be considered as allowed and not allowed in that warning voice?
- In Colossians 3:8, the Apostle Paul says, “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” Now what does Paul mean when he speaks of “filthy language”? Some claim he isn’t talking about cussing, swearing, or vulgar language. Is this true? The Greek word lit. refers to “filthy communication, abusive speech, obscene speech, vile conversation”.
- Matthew Henry describes it as “all lewd and wanton discourse, which comes from a polluted mind in the speaker and propagates the same defilements in the hearers”. Matthew Poole adds “unclean speech” to the description. I believe it’s clear that the vast majority of cussing and swearing fall into the category of lewd and wanton speech that’s fueled from pollution in the heart. Therefore, such speech shouldn’t be considered as acceptable to come off of a controlled and wise tongue.
Considering all of this, similar to the battle being in your mind and for your mind, so too do you need know that the battle for your mind will bear fruit in either the temptations and lures for the tongue to start fires of evil, or by divine grace, your fleeing those temptations and the tongue being bridled and used to the glory of God and the building up of others. Yes, the warning voice may need to be sharp sometimes, but it must never go outside the Scriptural bounds of godly wisdom and discipline.
Therefore, take some time today to prayerfully and honestly examine your heart and your words through the lens of Scripture and the lists in WLC 144 and 145. What needs to remain and grow in wisdom? What needs to change as self-control and discipline are restored? I’ll leave you with Paul’s words to the saints in Ephesus, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” – Ephesians 4:29
I could write much more on different aspects of words and speech and the application of James 3, but I hope this devotion provides you with good food for thought. More on the disciplined Christian life to come in the next edition.