The Book of James

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me”

Horses are larger and stronger than people, but they can be turned with a small bit in the mouth. We should let Christ bridle our mouths instead of speaking out every time a thoughtless word comes to mind. – Life Application Bible Commentary


Notice, James says no human being can tame the tongue…but God can and His Holy Spirit living inside of you can!!


What Springs from your mouth? A salty swamp bringing death and destruction or a fresh spring refreshing others and bringing life?

What we say and what we don’t say are both important. Proper speech is not only saying the right words at the right time, it is also controlling our desire to say what we shouldn’t. - LABC


Before speaking we should always ask ourselves, “Is this what I really want to say? Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” – all 4 questions should be answered yes before speaking.


Here are 6 ways to help you bring your speech under God’s control.
1.Count our blessings. By focusing on the positive, we will take away the anger and bitterness from our spirit that leads us to make negative comments or accusations towards others.
2.Get in touch with the love of God. As we allow God to satisfy our spiritual needs, we will have less of a need to strike out at others.
3.Write our thoughts in a letter instead of lashing out. We can pour out our inner feelings, and then not send the letter. Instead, we should pray over the letter and ask God to give us a change of attitude and spirit.
4.Wait before responding to a comment, criticism, or piece of gossip.
5.Make five positive comments to every negative one that we make about someone else.
6.Treat everything we say as a gift to another person. We should ask: “Are my words a gift that I truly want to leave in their hands?”