JAMES DAY 24 - From the Heart

DAY 24
FROM THE HEART
James 3:7-12

“I sound just like my dad!”

Let’s be real: lots of us grow up promising not to be like our parents in one way or another. But as we age, little bits of our parents’ attitudes and habits creep out. Then one day we say something - “Close the door! I’m not heating the outside!” - and it hits you: I sound just like my parents!

There’s all kinds of stuff hiding inside us, just waiting for the right time to come out. You have to admit this if you want to tame the tongue.

In the final part of this passage, James sounds hopeless but points to hope. First, he sounds hopeless. Look at v.7-8, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” We’ve got dog trainers and lion tamers and but no tongue tamers. And no human being can do it!

Sounds hopeless!

Things don’t sound much better in v.9. The same people who praise God in church cuss people out an hour later. How does that make sense? Genesis says every human being is made in God’s image and likeness. We’re made to mirror God. How can you curse God’s reflection? It might be seriously damaged and distorted but it’s still God’s reflection!

Finally, this should be impossible because saltwater doesn’t come from freshwater springs. You don’t plant apple trees and get pumpkins! James echoes Jesus again who said in Matt. 7, “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Jesus also said in Matt. 12:34, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

James urges us to ask, “What’s my root? Why do I say the things I say?”

The truth hurts: all the stuff we say that hurts people is connected to who we really are. It bubbles up from the real me. I’d rather distance myself from the embarrassing garbage I sometimes say, but I can’t. That’s me. Step one in taming the tongue is going to the root, the human heart.

REFLECT
When you say something you regret or something hurtful, do you try to distance yourself from words or do you accept the fact that this came from your heart?

PRAY
Lord, I confess: I’ve said some awful stuff. I’ve said silly things and sinful things. I’m sorry. Forgive me. Wash my heart clean and wash my mouth clean. Amen.