James 3:6 (ESV)
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The
tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the
entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
We don’t often consider it, but when we watch an athlete’s
performance, we are watching an amazing symphony of a dozen human systems
seamlessly working together, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal
and muscular systems. If we just consider the muscular system, we have
approximately 650 muscles performing the actions we are consciously undertaking
such as walking or lifting, but also many which are constantly working
unconsciously to perform tasks such as maintaining our posture or circulating blood
or other materials around our body. A common question is “what is the strongest
muscle in the body”? And there isn’t one
answer to this question because it depends on how you are measuring it. According to Everyday Mysteries, the
following are muscles that have been deemed the strongest based on various
definitions of strength.
Eye Muscles In
1 hour of reading the eye muscles make 10,000 coordinated movements
Gluteus Maximus - largest muscle in body keeps
trunk of body in erect position
Heart - hardest working muscle pumps about
2,500 gallons of blood each day
Tongue - the hardest worker it is constantly
working but never tires
I found the above
list interesting and noted that one of those muscles gets specifically
mentioned in the Bible as being extremely powerful; however, as athletes, it’s
probably not one that we frequently consider.
James 3: 1-12 does a wonderful job of explaining the power of the
tongue. After reading this passage you
can’t help but nod your head. It likely
allows you to consider things you have said to others, or what others have said
to you. James sums it up in verses 9 and 10 by saying: “9 With the tongue we
praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been
made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers
and sisters, this should not be.”
How is it that our tongue can move so quickly from
producing something fragrant to producing what James calls “poison” (vs.
8)? When I consider times where I am not
doing well in this area of my life, I can generally see that there is a deeper
issue going on in my life. Our words are
typically just symptoms and not root causes.
Jesus explains: “The good man brings good things out of the good
treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil
treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
(Luke 6:45). While we are “new
creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17), as Christians we continue to walk the journey
of sanctification, where we battle our old self (Romans 7: 15-20), and the
“evil” inside us usually comes out through our words. In James 3:8, we read: but no
human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. But God can tame our tongue, as
long as we remain humble and invite him to continually sanctify us to become
more like him. When your tongue spews
poison, be quick to repent and pray daily that your powerful tongue can instead
be used to dispense medicine in a hurting world.
Dear Lord, help us to tame our tongue. Give us the strength
we need so that we can bring honor to You in all that we do and say. In the
Name of Jesus, Amen.
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