God Bugs Your Conversation

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God has the right to bug, or listen in on, our conversations. He has had that right for a long time and has heard everything you have ever said.

Our speech is just one of the ways God tests if our faith is genuine. Previously we’ve studied how God watches how we go through trials, how we treat people, especially the poor, and how much our lives blossom with good works. All this is evidence of saving faith.

James now tells us more about our words and what they say about us.

James has already told us he was going to get to this. In James 1:26, he said that if anyone thinks he’s religious yet can’t control what he says, then he’s fooling himself. James also told us we have two ears, and God gave them to us so we can hear twice as much as we can say.

The tongue is the most dangerous weapon in the world. More deadly than the atom bomb, no one makes a careful inspection of it. Someone said, “Thou art master of the unspoken word, but the spoken word is master of you.” Once you have said them, they are beyond your control.

We all stumble and fail, but the mature, godly person is “able also to bridle the whole body.” In other words, if he can control his speech, he can control his entire body—his whole life. The tongue is a badge we wear—it identifies us. It is the greatest index to life, the table of contents of our lives.

Just imagine if everything you said this past month was recorded and shared with the world. Now you’re ready to listen to the various ways James describes someone who doesn’t have control over what they say.

First, how you control your speech is like a horse controlled by a bridle in its mouth. The bridle bits are not big, but they can hold a high-spirited horse in check and keep him from running away.

A little rudder also controls large ships that few people even see. A fierce storm may drive a ship, but a little rudder can control it. The tongue can also change the course of our lives.

Only a tongue that God has tamed can be used for Him. No fountain on this earth will give sweet and bitter water, nor will a tree bear figs and olives. But our words can also reveal genuine faith. We testify for God and speak wisdom if our hearts are right with God. If not, our words can stir up bitterness.

The devil uses our little tongues to cause so much trouble. The world's wickedness is not merely human, it’s human plus the evil supernatural from below, causing divisions and strife in our homes and churches. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure”—that is, it’s not mixed or diluted. It comes directly from God. It’s “peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” These are the fruits of faith.

How do we discern genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? We’ve learned that saving faith produces good works and perseverance through trials, and it also affects how we treat people and how to control what we say. These all clearly point to genuine faith, obvious in the life of someone who follows Jesus Christ.

1. Why do you think James spends so much time talking about the tongue and the danger of using it for evil?

2. How can our ability to control our tongues show our maturity in Christ?

3. Think about the words you have spoken over the last week. What have the words you have spoken told the listener about the condition of your heart?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teachings on James 3:1-4, James 3:5-18 and James 3:14—4:4.