The Power of Words (Part 3)
a commentary on James 3 (Application)
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome back to this week’s Biblit part 3!
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Today we are wrapping up James, chapter 3! Yesterday we dove into the power of the tongue and wisdom and talked about how our actions truly come from what is in our hearts.
What are you letting into your heart?
Application
The Power of the Tongue
The application here is pretty easy, right?
Just watch your mouth. Paul says this in Ephesians 5:
“Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.” (Ephesians 5:4 CSB).
And later in that same chapter he says:
“be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-21 CSB).
James, Paul, and Jesus all give incredible insight into the power of the tongue and why we should be careful with it. And why we should use it in God-honoring ways.
I want to point out something else James said. He said that mankind has tamed every kind of animal (including Tigers), but not the tongue.
He said that if one has control over their tongue, they have achieved self-mastery and are in full control of their body.
What I gain from that is that watching our mouths is hard.
In fact, I believe James is saying that it’s impossible on our own. Mankind is not capable of taming the tongue.
As we read from Jesus, our words are produced from what is in our hearts.
So, today my application is not just another todo list item: go and watch my mouth.
Today, my application point is to seek Christ.
If He is the only thing in my heart, then my words will overflow with fresh water, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual things. Always giving thanks and honor to God.
If we screw up and say something we regret, I don’t think it’s enough to put soap in our mouths. That’s trying to fix the fruit. The issue isn’t with the fruit, the issue is the root in our hearts.
So by all means, watch what you say.
But when you feel tempted to say something you shouldn’t, or you sin and say something painful, search your heart first, and run to Jesus who is rich and abundant in mercy.
The Power of Wisdom
In a similar vein, my takeaway for wisdom is to also run to Christ.
This passage really resonated with me. I allow worldly wisdom to enter my heart way too easily.
It’s hard to see the line sometimes.
Especially when it comes to money. Saving is a wise thing, Jesus taught a parable on the talents, right?
It’s wise.
Yet, where is the wisdom coming from? God says it’s wise because we are to be stewards of the gifts He gives. The world says it’s wise because it grants freedom, security, and materialistic gain.
And when my wires get crossed, I can certainly feel the envy of people my age further into their career, envy of people who make 7-figures writing online doing whatever they want, envy of all sorts of things. Which makes me want to work harder, but never for the right reasons.
This inevitably leads to disorder in my own life and burnout in my work and goals.
Again, the key here is my own heart.
And for wisdom, I want to always run to God. When I do that, then my work is gentle, I’m not in the rat race trying to get ahead of the other rat. I can do what I’ve been called to do because I’m working for the Lord.
Money truly is a tool God gives out in unequal ways. It’s not deserved, it’s not a measure of faith. It’s simply that He knows us, He knows where He’s called us, and He knows best how to further His kingdom. Money is a tool to further His kingdom. Plain and simple.
I talked a lot about money here, but worldly wisdom can come in many forms: love, marriage, entertainment, joy, happiness, etc. And when we allow that kind of wisdom in our hearts, it fuels evil fruit.
And I’ll go further to say when our fruit is from worldly wisdom, it weighs down on us and leads to a life of disorder and unhappiness which can spiral further and further into despair as we reach for more and more evil practices to “fix” the problem.
The problem is not circumstatial or fruit related. The problem is our heart and the kind of wisdom we are allowing in.
In Conclusion
Therefore, in conclusion: the key application for me from James chapter 3 is to seek Christ first, guard my heart always, and only allow Him to fuel my words and actions.
With that, we’ll call it a week for James chapter 3! Have a great rest of your week, and we’ll talk again next week as we dive into James chapter 4!