And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:6

Word are very powerful, they either have the power to empower us or condemn us. When we think back through history, some of the greatest moments were speeches. We think about the speech by JFK or the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. Think about the teachings of Jesus Christ, spoken over 2,000 years ago, these teachings still transform us today

Words can also have a negative impact, I’m sure all of us still can remember as child when someone bullied us or said something harsh. Even decades later those words resonant in your mind like it was yesterday. Words have power, that is why we must learn to control our tongue!

For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:7-8

Taming the tongue, seems like it would be so easy, yet has become one of the hardest lessons for people to learn. We all have opinions, we all have worldviews, and we can help but tell everyone who disagrees with us. How many times have we gotten ourselves in trouble because we couldn’t hold our peace?

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. James 3:9-10

The same mouth that you are praising God with, you are cursing people! This is hypocritical, we need to maintain self control of ourselves. We need to learn to keep our peace and control our tongue. In fact your voice can also condemn you. Jesus said we are going to be held accountable for every word we speak,(Matthew 12:36)  Think about that!

So next time we feel like going off on someone because we don’t like what there doing or disagree with their worldview, stop and think for a minute. Is this going to be a fruitful conversation or should you just hold your peace?