James 3:3-8, The untamable tongue
You know I was watching animal planet the other day and there was a show on about a zoo in San Diego. I was amazed to watch the interaction that these individuals had with the animals in which they cared for, but I was also amazed with the respect they had for each animal. No matter how many times they had interacted with an animal they took great caution and care when interacting with these animals because no matter how domesticated they seem these are still wild animals. You never know when one was is going to return to its primal instinct and behave in a way that is natural to it. The human tongue is a lot like one of this zoo animals, we can think we have it tamed but when we least expect it says what it wants to say and we see that we really didn’t have it uncontrol, we had just contained it. In verses 3-8 James lets us know that it doesn’t take a whole lot for the tongue to get out of control and cause problems in our lives.
James uses analogies to explain how something as small as the tongue can get out of control and wreak havoc in our lives. He said a small bit is placed in a horse’s mouth and with this small bit the horse can easily be turned in any direction as the bit is pulled. The same is true of our tongues if we let it go unchecked, we will end up be being pulled in every direction as it dictates. James continues this same line of thought and compares the tongue to a small rudder on a mighty ship, the small rudder easily steers the vessel any direction it wants it to go. The final analogy he uses to describe the tongue is that of a small spark that seems harmless until it ignites a raging forest fire that devours everything in sight. He closes by saying that wild animals may be able to be tamed by mankind, but the tongue is something that we cannot tame as it is full of deadly poison. We must allow God and the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives and yes this includes the words that we speak and our tongue.