READ James 1–5
It’s easy to talk too much — or too little. It’s difficult to say the right thing at the right time and be sure of it. Yet God gives instruction about talking with some of it in today’s reading. For instance:
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God . . . . If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. (James 1:19–20; 26)
Watchman Nee’s devotional tells of God teaching him to be quiet, then teaching him to speak up. This makes a person feel like a pretzel yet I realize it isn’t about me figuring out what to say and when to say it, but learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and letting Him prompt me to either be quiet or say what He puts on my heart.
That said, James makes it clear that mere talk has little value if my life does not match it. He says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14–17)
Mere words can be well meant but useless, even put people off. We all do it. James says:
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. (James 3:2)
He illustrates with guiding horses with small bits and ships with small rudders to indicate the power of the tongue, and how we easily tame other things but cannot tame our tongues. We even bless the Lord and yet curse people He created. This should not happen. (James 3:2–10)
Jesus said that what I say comes from my heart. James says the same thing. Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in my heart will produce boasting, disorder and vile behavior, but God’s wisdom is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” A self-centered heart leads to spats and other problem because it produces sinful stuff out of my mouth. (James 3:13–18; 4:1–3)
Satan is a liar and destructive. God warns against being the devil’s advocate. Instead, I am to “Submit to God and resist the devil, and he will flee” and keep my hands and heart clean rather than be double-minded or wanting to serve God but also wanting my own way. This will show up in my speech! (James 4:7–8)
This reading also tells me not to talk “evil against one another” as if I have any right to judge others. (James 4:11–12) It warns me not to boast about my plans too, as if I “know what tomorrow will bring.” This is ‘playing God’ and is evil. James adds, “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” which is a warning that includes speech too, for if He gives me something to say and I don’t say it, that is a sin of omission. (James 4:13–17)
Another instruction is that I must mean what I say without making an oath about it. Oaths suggest that words without oaths might be iffy, but putting an oath to it is insurance. A godly person should always speak truth without any suggestion that an oath is needed. (James 5:12)
From all this, it is clear that God wants me to keep my heart clean, listen to Him and say only what He wants me to say, always on guard against selfish reasons for opening my mouth. Simple sounding but this takes a lot of learning, of paying attention to what is in my heart and to what God says. It means time in His Word so I know His thoughts and am aware of His voice when He tells me to speak up or shut up . . . and will say what He says rather than listen to and repeat anything else. Challenging lessons!
