Authenticity - Our Tongue Betrays Us

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).  The Apostle James is going to continue his consecutive Sunday shakedowns this week with the passage before us in James 3.   Nothing marks out authenticity quite like our tongues submitted to the Lordship of Christ.  How our tongues fail us and reveal our true heart (Matthew 15:18)!  Sunday will get a little uncomfortable; especially for the preacher, who uses more words than anyone in worship (3:1).  That word stricter in the text constricts the preacher’s conscience, as the whole passage will constrict ours. 

 

But there is hope and we can bless others with our tongues and use our speech patterns to be such wonderful blessings.  Let’s reach for that together this week.  The tongue is just a wee part of our bodies, and yet the tongue is so determinative.  Wow!  We fail with our speech.  But God wants to meet us with His grace and enable us forward to that life of integrity.   Life is in the power of the tongue too, not simply destructive poison.  So let’s have a pro-life Sunday and work together at habits of blessing others with our speech and being an encouraging lot.  That is an authentic church, and what God is calling us to this week. 

 

If you are prepared to repent and seek our Lord, you are going to love this Sunday.  Let’s reach for grace together and raise the bar on using our tongues to build up this church.