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"No man can tame the tongue."

Text: James 3:8

THE UNRULY TONGUE

James was well aware of how unruly the tongue is. Hence, he made this observation.

“For every kind of beast and bird,
of reptile and creature of the sea,
is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
But no man can tame the tongue.
It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
James 3:7-8

1. “Tamed by mankind”

a) James was right when he made the above observation.

b) Mankind has tamed many different kinds of creatures.

i) Beast

ii) Bird

iii) Reptile

iv) Sea creature

2. “No man can tame the tongue”

a) This is a solemn statement; two things are highlighted:

b) “It is an unruly evil”

i) Unruly suggests that it is something extremely hard to tame.

ii) Evil is never easy to tame.

iii) A combination of both features makes it most difficult to tame.

c) “Full of deadly poison”

i) The tongue can be deadly when used wrongly.

ii) It is no exaggeration to describe it as “deadly poison”.

iii) The ancients know of deadly poison for which there was no cure.

d) James suggests that man cannot tame the tongue easily.

3. Can God tame the tongue?

a) Assuredly!

b) He can wield His power to bring about significant changes.

c) God will need to first cleanse and change the heart; then will the tongue be changed!