souce : w97 11/15 14 Control That Tongue! 12 Speaking and teaching can also provide evidence of faith, but there is a need for restraint. (James 3:1-4) As teachers in the congregation, elders have a weighty responsibility and great accountability to God. Hence, they should humbly examine their motives and qualifications. Besides knowledge and ability, these men must have a deep love for God and for fellow believers. (Romans 12:3, 16; 1 Corinthians 13:3, 4) Elders must base their counsel on the Scriptures. If an elder were to err in his teaching and this resulted in problems for others, he would be judged adversely by God through Christ. Elders should therefore be humble and studious, faithfully adhering to God’s Word. 13 Even fine teachers—in fact, all of us—“stumble many times” because of imperfection. Stumbling in word is one of the most frequent and potentially damaging shortcomings. James says: “If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle also his whole body.” Unlike Jesus Christ, we do not have perfect tongue control. If we did, we could control the other members of our body. After all, bridles and bits make horses go where we direct, and by means of a small rudder, even a large boat driven by hard winds can be steered as the helmsman wishes. 14 All of us must honestly admit that real effort is needed to control the tongue. (James 3:5-12) Compared to a horse, a bridle is small; so is a rudder in comparison with a ship. And when compared with the human body, the tongue is small “and yet makes great brags.” Since the Scriptures make it clear that boasting displeases God, let us seek his help to refrain from it. (Psalm 12:3, 4; 1 Corinthians 4:7) May we also restrain our tongue when provoked, remembering that it takes only a spark to set a forest aflame. As James indicates, “the tongue is a fire” with ability to cause great damage. (Proverbs 18:21) Why, an unruly tongue “is constituted a world of unrighteousness”! Every evil trait of this ungodly world is associated with the uncontrolled tongue. It is responsible for such damaging things as slander and false teaching. (Leviticus 19:16; 2 Peter 2:1) What do you think? Should not our faith move us to work hard at controlling our tongue? 15 An unbridled tongue ‘spots us up’ completely. For instance, if we are caught lying repeatedly, we may become known as liars. How, though, does an unruly tongue ‘set the wheel of natural life aflame’? By making life like a vicious circle. A whole congregation may be upset by one uncontrolled tongue. James mentions “Gehenna,” the Valley of Hinnom. Once used for child sacrifice, it became a dump for the disposal of Jerusalem’s refuse by fire. (Jeremiah 7:31) So Gehenna is a symbol of annihilation. In a sense, Gehenna has lent its destructive power to the unruly tongue. If we do not bridle our tongue, we ourselves may become victims of the blaze we have started. (Matthew 5:22) We may even be expelled from the congregation for reviling someone.—1 Corinthians 5:11-13. 16 As you may know from reading God’s Word, Jehovah decreed that man should have animal creation in subjection. (Genesis 1:28) And all kinds of creatures have been tamed. For instance, trained falcons have been used in hunting. The ‘creeping things’ James mentions may include serpents controlled by snake charmers. (Psalm 58:4, 5) Man can even control whales, but as sinful humans we cannot fully tame the tongue. Nevertheless, we should avoid making abusive, cutting, or slanderous remarks. An unruly tongue can be a dangerous instrument filled with deadly poison. (Romans 3:13) Regrettably, the tongues of false teachers turned some early Christians away from God. So let us never allow ourselves to be overcome by venomous apostate expressions, whether spoken or written.—1 Timothy 1:18-20; 2 Peter 2:1-3. 17 Faith in God and a desire to please him can protect us from apostasy and can prevent us from using the tongue inconsistently. Pointing to the inconsistency of some, James says that ‘with the tongue we bless our Father, Jehovah, and curse men who have come into existence in God’s likeness.’ (Genesis 1:26) Jehovah is our Father in that he “gives to all persons life and breath and all things.” (Acts 17:24, 25) He is also the Father of anointed Christians in a spiritual sense. All of us are “in the likeness of God” as to mental and moral qualities, including the love, justice, and wisdom that distinguish us from animals. So, then, how should we act if we have faith in Jehovah? 18 If we were to curse men, that would mean that we would invoke, or call down, evil upon them. Since we are not divinely inspired prophets authorized to call down evil on anyone, such speech would be evidence of hatred that would make our blessing of God vain. It is not proper for both “blessing and cursing” to come forth from the same mouth. (Luke 6:27, 28; Romans 12:14, 17-21; Jude 9) How sinful it would be to sing praises to God at meetings and later speak evil of fellow believers! Both sweet and bitter water cannot bubble forth from the same fountain. As “a fig tree cannot produce olives or a vine figs,” salt water cannot produce sweet water. Something is spiritually wrong if we, who should speak what is good, persistently utter bitter words. If we have fallen into that practice, let us pray for Jehovah’s help to stop speaking in such a way.—Psalm 39:1.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 08:16:33 +0000
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