JAMES - CHAPTER 3 Verse 1 Teaching others the Word of God has a great reward in seeing them take hold of the Word, mix faith with it (which produces actions/works) [see Hebrews 4:2] and then see their lives changed. However – there IS a stricter judgment. Teachers are answerable to God for the things they teach – for this reason, teachers MUST be studiers, too. Verse 2 Everyone stumbles in word – with the mouth – even teachers (note: the verse begins with “for”). No one is perfect. This might be included to help teachers who are a little fearful and intimidated – I know it did, with me, when I started teaching the Bible in a home Bible study. Verse 3 Being a “horse person”, I understand how a bit works to direct and control a horse. It does not ‘MAKE” or “FORCE” them to turn or stop. An untrained horse who has not learned to submit to his rider only shakes his head and fights the bit. He doesn’t understand its purpose. The bit is simply a “signal” of the rider’s will to the horse. Whether the horse obeys is based on his training and his relationship of trust with the rider. Verse 4 The rudder of a huge ship is still small in comparison. The job of the rudder is steering – keeping the ship on course. The way the rudder works is in its strength to use the current (the force coming against it). Our words change our direction – our words either go along with (agree with, submit to, are influenced by) the force coming against us OR use that force to push against it (to resist it) to project ourselves in a different direction. Like turning what the enemy means as a stumbling block into a stepping stone to take us higher. Verse 5 The tongue is small – but its ability to direct our course and spark a large fire are often under-estimated. Verse 6 “Set on fire by hell” – the devil knows the power of our words. Proverbs 18:21 says the very power of “life and death” is in our words. So, of course, HE wants to use it to produce death. Whenever we speak words of death we are agreeing with Satan’s purpose and being used by him to bring death into a situation that the Lord wants to bring life to. Verse 7-8 Our words have such power that “taming” it is compared to the taming of a wild, poisonous animal. BAD NEWS: NO man can tame their own tongue. GOOD NEWS: WE don’t do it alone – God gives supernatural power so that we can walk in His will, pleasing Him with our words! We CAN tame (control) our tongue with His help!! ANY COMMENTS, INPUT, OR QUESTIONS????
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:16:25 +0000