Let us never forget that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Humans use their tongues in many ways, including corruptive speech and rash words to tear people down and break their spirits. We must control our tongue because it is a weapon. This world is full of tongued creatures, and God allows humankind to have dominion over them. We thank God that "humans are able to tame all other creatures--wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish" (James 3:7). It is mindboggling that humans have power over other creatures but cannot control the small instrument in their mouths.
It is amazing because self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and Scripture tells us to add self-control to our faith. James recognizes humans' power over other creatures and says, "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8, KJB). James speaks of the tongue as inherently evil, but we must try to tame it and believe that it is possible with God. Despite our experience with unruly language, we understand that controlling our tongue, speech, and behavior is necessary. We use the tongue to pray and comfort the afflicted as we abide in the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us.
Make speaking a priority with integrity because we live in a culture that increasingly normalizes inappropriate speech. Anyone is fair game for the wrath of the foolish. If you have an aught with a man, badmouthing his wife and children is no longer inappropriate; this culture is steadily normalizing this behavior. Curse words and disrespect are increasing at an astronomical pace. Our experience shows some people do not consider cursing a terrible thing. They use it in everyday conversation as if it were ordinary language; the worst part is that listeners accept it as normal.
From reading the words of the Apostle James, we understand there should be a distinction between the instrument we use to praise God and the one we use to curse humans. The problem is we only have one instrument, the tongue. We, brothers, and sisters in Christ, can correct this situation. We live by faith in God's Word which tells us that curse words are not natural or ordinary and should not be part of our speech.
When leaders are bold enough to adopt these words into their public speeches that often reach millions, we should cringe. Curse words are not like other words. Now is the time to examine what we think we know. Do not deceive yourself, cursing is contrary to God's Word. Scripture says, we should not allow corrupting talk to come out of your mouth (Eph. 4:29). Scripture also says that foolish talk, obscene stories, crude joking, or coarse jesting are not appropriate (Eph. 5:4). Bottom line: we should not use the same instrument to praise God and curse people.
Minister Nettie Pennington, Associate Minister, Springfield MB Church
