EVERYDAY FAITH – WEEK 3
The Book of James is a book about everyday faith. Practical wisdom for living the life that God wants us to experience. In this message from James 3 we learn that our words have the power of life and death (not a surprise, right?).
In this message we’ll learn to speak words of life; guard ourselves from words of death and in doing that experience the incredible power and impact we can have.
To check out a great overview of the book of James check out this video from the Bible Project:
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/james/
2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.
4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.
5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.
6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. [a]
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish,
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:2-8
If you’ve been wounded by other’s words: You are not who others say you are, you are who God says you are.
If you’ve wounded others by your words: You need God’s supernatural help to control our words.
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
Proverbs 18:21
Our words have power. How will you use that power? You can use it to bring death or life.
HOW CAN I SPEAK LIFE?
1. ICNU
2. Acknowledge when you get it wrong
3. Write it, type it
4. Share encouragement from God’s Word.
And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3:18
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
James 1:22
NEXT STEPS
1. Commit to asking God for help in taming your tongue.
2. Pause on the post!
3. Write an email, letter, phone call this week; speak words of life to someone.