This last Sunday I spoke at Hoosier Harvest Church for our Authority series we are currently doing.  It has been a great series and I had the opportunity to talk about “The Tongue”

Words are powerful.  God used words to speak the world into existence.  He would say, “Let there be…” and it was.  Words have the power to create and to destroy.

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death

 The tongue has more power than any other muscle in our body.  More damage has been done by the tongue than our hands and feet could ever do.  Whoever said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” wasn’t human.  They obviously never had someone say something hurtful to them.  The opposite  is true, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can destroy me.” The way we use our tongue is so vital.  It can do great things or terrible things.

The book of James in the Bible has a lot to say about our tongue.  It is so interesting that James talks about the power of the tongue in his letter to the Jewish Christians at the time.  They were suffering great persecution for being followers of Christ so James addresses how to they should act in this time of persecution.  He could of covered so many topics but one of the biggest he focused on was the tongue.

James 3:3-12

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  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.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

There are 4 things He refers our tongue to…

1. The Horse

Bits are used in the horses mouth in order to control it.  This idea of our tongue speaks about the DISCIPLINE we need to have concerning our tongue.  It is not easy to use our tongue for good, especially when things aren’t going good.  But we must discipline ourself in order to control our life.  Remember the old statement…”If you don’t have anything good to say don’t say anything at all.”? There is much truth in that.

Proverbs 11:12

A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, 

but a man of understanding holds his tongue.

2. The Rudder

Our tongue has the ability to steer our life, this is about DIRECTION.  What we talk about is what we end up doing and becoming.  The rudder has the ability to take our life in any direction.  The tongue can knock you off course or course correct you depending on how you use it.  Whatever is in us will come out when we get squeezed.

Luke 6:45

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

3. A Fire

The tongue is a fire.  It can set a forest to flame.  This speak about DESTRUCTION.  If we are not careful we can destroy our reputation and influence depending on how we use our words.  We can completely burn someone down by the words we say.  Our tongue can corrupt all the good we do.  No matter how many good deeds we do, we can lose all credibility because of our tongue.

4. A Spring

The tongue is like a fountain that springs up.  It will either spring up praises or curses, but it can not spring forth both.  This speaks of the DICHOTOMY of the tongue.  We can’t use the same tongue to praise God and then tear others down, it makes no sense.  God is equates how we talk about others with the way we talk about Him.  We must be consistent with our tongue.  We can either build others up or break them down.

Proverbs 15:4

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, 

but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Check out the FULL message I was able to do on the power of the tongue…

Authority: The Tongue 11/11/12 from Hoosier Harvest Church on Vimeo.