In James 3 we are talking about our words. The world we have built is built on the words that were spoken on and over us. Words matter.

Proverbs talks about words being able to bring death and life.

We all know the exact time and experience of the good and bad words that were spoken over us. The crazy thing is that most of the people who say the bad and good won’t remember what they said to you. Our words matter. They carry weight. We must know this.

James 3:1 NIV Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

We need more teachers, but people in biblical times often became teachers because they wanted the honor of the position. As teachers our words have greater weight because they affect so many.

Matthew 12:34-37 NIV You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

In this passage, Jesus goes after the religious teachers, because words can condemn. Our words and actions are a reflection of our hearts. Our words show us the true nature and health of our heart. Our words expose what our heart tries to hide. Our words direct our life.

James 3:2-5 ESV For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

Our tongue directs our life. When our words become negative we end up in places we never thought we could be. The rudder on a boat is there to set the direction of where we are going to be in a couple days. When it is slightly off we end up in a place we did not intend to.

Rhetoric sets the course on how we think about a whole people. The words we speak over each other affects how we treat those people. We can’t get words back. So when we say them they wreak havoc much longer than we could have thought. They are like a wildfire.
James 3:6-8 ESV And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Our words can poison others. We have the ability to kill off something in someone’s life that God placed there. We do the will of Satan when we don’t check the works we let out. In this way we are bringing hell up rather than heaven down to us.

James 1:19 ESV Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Why don’t we use encouraging words more?

Let’s use our words for wisdom. When we know that our words can be death and life it is imperative that we choose life. Above this we must know that we need help. It is impossible for us to control our tongue by ourselves, because what is inside will always come out. We need God's help. We need the Holy Spirit within. Is our focus placed on the Holy Spirit and how we are communicating with Him in our thoughts that turn to our beliefs and ultimately our actions?

Psalm 141:3 ESV Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

James 3:7-12 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Our words can be a blessing or a curse. They cannot be both. The way we talk about God's creation says a lot about what we think about our God. As Christians we have an opportunity to show peace and understanding when others are going crazy.

We should be the most informed and prayer filled in the decisions we make. If we speak about any topic that makes others NOT want to listen when we speak then when we share about the gospel they will most likely not be willing to listen either. We must look at how we are using our words.

Ephesians 4:29 MSG Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Start with your heart. When we have the ability to control our tongue we have actually gotten to the source.

Matthew 15:16-20 MSG Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

We have got to spend time with God. Through His word. Godly community and in this way we are convicted to transform. He transforms our heart into something new and then what comes out is naturally good.

Hebrews 10:24-25 MSG So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

God doesn’t say, “there is something wrong, go fix that.” He says, “there is something wrong, WE can fix that.” With Him transformation is possible. He has a plan.