Your Words Have PowerSample

A Major Target of the Enemy

James 3:3-6 NLT We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

James is comparing the tongue and the words of our mouth to steering a large ship with a small-scale rudder and directing a strong horse with a modest-sized bit in the horse’s mouth. The tongue is only a small part of the body, yet it boasts great things. A forest is set afire by such a small flame. The tongue is what defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life, the fire of hell.

James 3:7b NLT It [the tongue] is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

Why did James make it sound so hard to tame the tongue? Is it because very few people ever push on through to get the conviction of this revelation? Believers may see the power of the spoken word and even come up with a formula and decide to confess it for a month, thinking, “I’ll have it down, and I’ll become perfect like this Scripture is promising.” But they eventually return to the same old habits, letting their mouth run wild.

God didn’t create the tongue to be unruly. It was not a problem before the fall of man. But, it is obviously a major target of the enemy for it to have become so dangerous. Just look around in the Christian world; it’s the tongue with which most Christians struggle. They may have developed their Christian walk in so many ways, yet, almost every Christian has a problem in some area with the tongue—making bad confessions, cursing, gossiping… Some have a sharp, critical tone that lashes out at people or a negative attitude that comes out in what they say. No one has been exempt from the enemy borrowing his tongue. One moment in the Bible, Peter’s mouth is being used by God to reveal Jesus as the Messiah, and in the next moment, seven verses down in the same chapter, Jesus is rebuking him for letting Satan’s words come out of his mouth. If we let Satan have an opportunity, he will use our very words against us and against the people around us.

Lord, thank You for this reminder from Your Word about the power of my words. They are so powerful the enemy targets my words in an attempt to keep me defeated. With God's help, I will be victorious in this area. In Jesus' name. Amen