James 3:7, commentary and pictures

Every kind of wild creature on land and in air and sea has been brought under control by human beings. Yet the verse sets this power beside human helplessness, for no person by human strength can tame the tongue, which left to itself is an unruly evil full of deadly harm. Victory comes only through Christ, as Satan’s suggestions are refused utterance and the heart is changed so the tongue becomes a savor of life. That taming requires an entire transformation, with mind and heart disciplined, thoughts guarded, and nourishment drawn from Christ and His Word. Left uncontrolled, the tongue voices anger, jesting, faultfinding and accusation, kindling strife, wounding souls, spreading unbelief and giving place to Satan. When sanctified by the Holy Spirit, speech becomes a great power for good to honor Christ, build up faith, comfort the discouraged, and bring grace to the hearers.

Taming and Untamed Contrast

Every kind of beast and bird and serpent and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. This taming of all animal kinds is given to press the need to control the tongue and temper. Without such restraint people fall under Satan, while restraint from God brings peace and humility and growth in grace. The tongue itself is a powerful gift for good or evil, so harsh and dishonest and exaggerated and idle speech that harms others and must be answered for before God is to be put away, and speech is to honor Christ and set forth the plan of redemption and comfort the discouraged and bring grace and encouragement to the hearers. Governing speech is therefore a necessary part of living peaceably with others, and its wise use greatly influences others for good.

The force of the verse lies in contrast: human beings can tame every kind of wild animal, even wild beasts of the forest, but no person by human power can tame the tongue. Governing it is difficult and beyond human control, and bringing thoughts and words under the will of Christ requires the Lord's help. Left to itself the tongue is untamed and untamable, an unruly source of evil used to voice anger and resentment and retaliation and unkindness toward others. It can speak words that harm others and stir conflict and grieve the Holy Spirit.

In its setting the untamed tongue is an unruly member and an unruly evil, a world of iniquity set on fire of hell and full of deadly poison. Set on fire by evil it can kindle great harm. So a wife's impatient and blaming tongue, an unruly member often full of deadly evil and set on fire of hell, makes both herself and her husband miserable and makes him fear her tongue. Feeling resentment when others act selfishly in business and then talking of it and stirring dissatisfaction where none existed is a greater sin than their selfishness, and showing offense by a spirit of retaliation and cherishing bitter feelings foreign to the spirit of Christ and indulging anger and resentment and every unkind temper by speaking against those who displease and by reciting the errors and failings and sins of neighbors gratifies hurtful desires and proves the tongue untamed.

Victory Through Divine Power

James 3:7 shows that every kind of wild beast of the forest may be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, yet sets up the contrast that the tongue can no man tame by human power. Victory over the desire to speak hasty, unchristlike words comes only through Christ. When in His strength Satan's suggestions are refused utterance, the plant of bitterness in the heart withers and dies. Then the Holy Spirit can make the tongue a savor of life unto life.

Bringing thoughts and words under Christ's will requires the Lord's help, for the tongue is an unruly member difficult to control and not under control when given free use. The mouth should be closed in prayer before speaking, and harsh words must be resisted with prayer for grace, because speech shapes children and reveals character. The grace of Christ can guard and protect every moment against this evil of unwise, vain, false, unjust and untrue speech that pierces heart and brain and causes sadness and pain and bruising and wounding to souls who love God and are trying to do His will, leaving minds confused and almost unbalanced. Those who so speak are made tools for Satan's devising, and a change of character is necessary before fitness for heaven.

Taming the tongue requires an entire transformation of character, daily conversion, being crucified with Christ, and having Christ formed within as the hope of glory, and then fruits appear unto righteousness. The uncontrolled tongue set on fire over trifling matters proves the heart is not drawing sap and nourishment from Jesus Christ the True Vine and not bearing His fruit, but the fruit of the natural selfish heart. Such bitter words full of suspicion, distrust, unjust judgment, watching for evil, distorting brethren in a perverted light, and rolling supposed evil as a sweet morsel under the tongue plant fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many, destroy the feeble, hinder God's work, advance the enemy, and bring the speaker into judgment by what he now is. The remedy is to read and study the solemn warning prayerfully with self-examination and prayer for cleansing from selfishness, to turn thoughts to feed on the Word of God which is Spirit and life, to be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, to speak only select, well-chosen words, and to create a different atmosphere by practicing the Word, for an untamed tongue talks too much, lacks peace and harmony, does much mischief, is a world of iniquity, changes the course of nature for oneself and for others, stirs up strife, kindles a fire and delights in the resulting destruction, uses truth unwisely to raise opposition and make war instead of peace and humility, and indulges in sporting, joking, hilarity and glee.

The tongue is disciplined only by disciplining the mind and heart, because the tongue belongs to God and speech begins in the heart. Thoughts must be guarded and feelings controlled in order to keep speech right and heaven-approved, refusing to implant seeds of doubt and refusing to cherish or express unbelief, discouraging words, evil speaking and backbiting, suspicion, distrust, talkativeness, whispering, misconstruing innocent words, prejudice, jealousies, and persecution of brethren. Nourishment must be drawn from Christ the True Vine by feeding on the Word which is Spirit and life, and the untamed human tongue needs to be touched and purified by God like with hot coals of juniper. Through the help Christ gives, men and women can learn to bridle the tongue by following Christ's example, who when sorely tried on the point of hasty and angry speech never once sinned with His lips but met sneers, taunts, and ridicule with patient calmness, singing one of David's psalms until His companions joined Him in the hymn, resolving to speak only words pleasing to God. The tamed tongue then saves its words to comfort and encourage and bless, producing charity which is love and true elevation and a favorable Christian experience, and cleansing the heart from everything that lessens influence for good in the church and in the world, whereas speech that reports matters hurting souls, stirs up strife, makes mischief, and circulates scandal pleases the enemy and greatly displeases God, and where such talk is multiplied sin is not lacking.

Harm of Uncontrolled Speech

The untamed tongue gives voice to anger, resentment, retaliation, impatience, blame, and passionate unkind words. Such speech dishonors God, makes both speaker and hearers miserable, and weakens the speaker himself. Indulging anger, resentment and every unkind temper by speaking against those who displease, reciting the errors and failings and sins of neighbors, and showing offense by a spirit of retaliation gratifies hurtful desires and proves the tongue untamed. Even feeling resentment when others act selfishly in business and then talking about it and arousing dissatisfaction where none existed is a greater sin than their selfishness. Such bitter, uncontrolled speech proves the heart is not drawing nourishment from Christ the True Vine and not bearing His fruit, but bearing the fruit of the natural selfish heart.

It also talks too much and indulges in sporting, joking, hilarity and glee, talkativeness, whispering, and careless, joking and idle speech. Words of this kind reveal corruption cherished in the heart and show that the heart needs cleansing. Careless, joking and idle speech dishonors Christ. Without restraint of words and temper people are enslaved to evil and become subject to Satan, whereas restraint under God brings peace, humility, happiness and growth in grace.

The untamed tongue accuses the brethren and finds fault with everything and with every man's teaching, which is proof of imperfection of character. It watches for evil, suspects, distrusts, judges unjustly, misconstrues innocent words, and distorts brethren in a perverted light, rolling supposed evil as a sweet morsel under the tongue. It sows seeds of doubt, unbelief, irritation, evil-surmising and infidelity, with envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, striving for supremacy, and building self up by demeriting others. Careless, doubtful and accusing speech takes root in others' minds and produces unbelief and apostasy, unsettles the little faith many have, divides the church, and defiles many.

It is a world of iniquity that changes the course of nature for speaker and others. It stirs up strife, kindles a fire and delights in the resulting destruction, and even uses truth unwisely to raise opposition and make war instead of peace and humility. Spreading a person's ideas and impressions causes trouble, separates close friends, and drives the joy of the Lord from the church. Wounds caused by harsh words are hard to heal, and guarding the tongue avoids strife that hurts one's own soul and the souls of others. Answering hastily when treated unjustly can give the enemy victory.

An unsanctified, unwise, vain, false, unjust and untrue tongue pierces heart and brain and causes sadness, pain, bruising and wounding to souls who love God and are trying to do His will, leaving minds confused and almost unbalanced. It destroys the feeble, hinders God's work, advances the enemy, confuses others, dishonors God, and makes a person's words untrustworthy so as to hinder reaching people. Harsh, dishonest, exaggerated, idle and coarse speech harms others and must be accounted for before God, bringing the speaker into judgment for what he now is. A tongue that is not sanctified is used to harm rather than benefit.

Those who so speak plant fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many, and sow seeds that reap a harvest of evils. They give place to Satan as the originator of evil and are made his tools for hurting souls, becoming his best agents as accusers of the brethren day and night instead of missionaries for God saving perishing souls. The one who gives himself up to finding fault is neglecting his own precious soul, unfitting himself as a missionary, and closing fields that would otherwise be opened. Those who allow such unchristlike work to go on unrebuked are themselves accountable before God for injury to their brethren.

Discipline and Godly Use

James 3:7 teaches that the unruly tongue must be entirely controlled and tamed, with carefulness of words and acts learned instead of living unfettered. Its teaching is to be carefully considered, laid to heart, and made the pattern for forming character and shaping daily conduct. Obeying this truth is required in order to be without fault before the throne of God and to carry out the principles of Jehovah's ten precepts and commandments in daily life.

The tongue must be kept as with a bridle and the spirit bridled so that it does not speak perversely, for unadvised words do great mischief. This means closing the mouth before speaking, refusing unsafe private conversation, and choosing silence over words that misapply, wound, leave false impressions, injure souls, and harm the sacred cause when reported incorrectly or picked out of connection to carry a point. Believers should yield personal opinion and preference rather than create dispute unless some question of vital importance is involved, keeping differences to oneself and telling them only to God and never introducing divisive matters. Even gaining a point by argument can place a burden on another far outweighing the advantage, and wounds caused by harsh words are hard to heal, hurting one's own soul and the souls of others. When treated unjustly, answering hastily can give the enemy victory, so silence and a bridled, thoughtful, edifying tongue that honors God preserves peace and overcomes temptation.

A tamed tongue speaks only select, well-chosen, thoughtful words, being swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. Governing speech in this way requires an entire transformation of character and a complete change, refusing to implant seeds of doubt, cherish or express unbelief, and guarding against discouraging words, evil speaking and backbiting by resolving to speak only words pleasing to God. Such control is a great victory learned through Christ's help and example, who when sorely tried on the point of hasty and angry speech never once sinned with His lips but met sneers, taunts and ridicule with patient calmness. Judicious use of speech in living peaceably greatly influences others for good, preserves peace, and avoids harsh wounds that burden others and are hard to heal.

Control of the tongue is closely bound up with personal religion, for words shape the speaker's thoughts and actions and influence others, and unwise or hasty words can lead to wrong decisions and lasting harm to one's own soul and others. Speech shapes children and reveals character, including how one would treat others in heaven. Harsh words must therefore be resisted with prayer for grace and self-examination with prayer for cleansing from selfishness, and a change of character and daily conversion are necessary before fitness for sacred trust and entrance to heaven.

When sanctified by the Holy Spirit the precious gift of speech becomes a great talent and power for good, to be used to represent the character of Christ and to close the door to the enemy. It must never be used to tear one another down, for that is doing Satan's work, while harsh, dishonest, exaggerated and idle speech harms others and must be accounted for before God. The tamed tongue is used to honor Christ, share the plan of redemption and thoughts of the Redeemer's love, persuade, pray, praise God's goodness, mercy and love, and sow truth in hearts. It builds one another up in the most holy faith, helping one another day by day to grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ, comforts the discouraged, encourages faith and hope, diffuses piety and faith, saves its words to comfort and bless in charity, brings grace to hearers, and convicts unbelievers with pure, grateful words.