August 8, 2021
THE BOOK OF JAMES
Part 5: How to Tame Your Tongue
Taming the Tongue
(James 1:26 NLT) If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
- My words will _____________________.
(James 3:3-4 NIV) We can control very large horses by putting a small bit into their mouths. By controlling their mouth, we can turn the whole animal whatever direction we want it to go. Or take ships as an example. A tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.
(Proverbs 20:20 NIV) If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
(Numbers 13:30-31 NKJV) Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
We ______ our words and then our words ________.
2. My words can _____________________.
(James 3:5-6 NIV) 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.
(Proverbs 10:19 NLT) Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
Pass ______________ and praise ________.
3. My words always __________________.
(James 3:9-10 NIV) 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.
(James 3:11-12 NIV) 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.
The real problem isn’t my ______, it’s my ______.
How to Tame Your Tongue
(James 3:7-8 NIV) 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.
- Allow God to __________________.
(Hebrews 8:10-12 NIV) “This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
(Psalm 19:14 NLT) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
2. Put a filter on what I __________________.
(Matthew 12:34-35 NIV) For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
(Proverbs 4:23 NIV) Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
3. Decide to speak __________________.
- Words of _____________.
(Matthew 3:16-17 NIV) At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
- Words of _____________.
(Proverbs 25:11 NIV) A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
- Words of _________________.
(Ephesians 4:29 NIV) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
- Words of ______________.
(Proverbs 15:4 NIV) The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life…
- Words of ____________.
(Romans 4:17 NIV) (Abraham) is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.