James 3: 5-6 – The Demon in Your Mouth

Fire dancer sprays fire from the mouth up in the air.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

STOP!

Do not proceed until you have calibrated your brain to think like James.

Each of us speaks from a unique point of view. As much as we would like to think that everyone agrees with us on this or that topic, the fact is that no one agrees with you on everything. God made us so that we are each unique and dependent on Him.

Yes, there are a lot of things we have in common. But there are more things we disagree on. The challenge with reading the Bible is not to fit the words of the Bible into our world view, but to get our heads around God’s view. I suspect that he purposely wrote the Bible the way he did to keep us on our toes.

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James 3: 2 – A Show of Hands

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

How many of you (dear readers) are never at fault in what you say? I am taking James at his word when he writes “never.” So when we say, “… never at fault…” we mean someone who is not at fault and has never been at fault.

Hmmm… I’m not seeing a show of hands.

Let’s try the other side of the coin: How many of you have been at fault in what you say at least once in your lives?

Ahhh! Now I see everyone’s hand!

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