Verses 7-8
In verse 8, James says that no one can tame the tongue. Now this feels like an extreme and even hopeless statement from James. And even inconsistent to what James has previous said. In James 1:26, he tells us we should bridle our tongue. And now here it appears he is saying that no one can control their tongue.
When James makes this statement he is talking about what we as humans have the ability to do. Yes, as human, in our own wisdom and strength, we can tame wild animals (verse 7). But we can’t in our wisdom and strength tame our sin nature. Therefore, in our own strength, we will use our mouth, our words for evil. The tongue controlled by our sin nature is likely poison. Outside of the work of the Spirit of God in our lives, we will tear down, hurt, destroy with our words.
We should not take our speech casually. When not surrendered to the Spirit, our words are evil that is restless– meaning it is an evil that is constant.
Verse 9
And so when we do not yield or submit our tongue, our words to the Spirit of God, we begin to live a very inconsistent life. And James paints this picture. He says that as believers in Jesus Christ, if we have a tongue that is not controlled then one moment we are praising God and then the next moment we are cursing people made in the image of God.
We should not come on a Sunday morning and sing words of worship to God and then on the drive home from church belittle our spouse or be harsh with our kids or get angry at other drivers on the road.
James writes that if you are a Christian and you use your words to worship God and then regularly tear down people, belittle, berate, devalue people made in the image of God, this should not be! Other translations say, “this is not right!” This is inappropriate behavior as a believer in Jesus Christ. It is not good. This is revealing a faith that is potentially dead or inactive. It is certainly revealing disobedience.
Verses 10-11
In these two verses, the point James is making is that as a believer in Jesus Christ, your life should reflect the righteousness of Christ. James is not calling for a perfect life because as he mentioned, we all stumble. But he is calling us to a steadfast faith rooted in obedience. When you look at a person’s life overall, righteousness should reflect their life.
If you regularly gossip, make fun of people, tell inappropriate jokes, belittle people or use hurtful words, James is being very direct and say, ‘this is not good!’
A Spirit-led person produces Spirit-produced works. If you are a Christian and your words often reflect wickedness, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. This is not a small issue. If we are flippant in this area, as one commentator on James, ‘James is not amused.’
Sometimes people can find it funny that they gossip too much, they find it funny that they are sometimes belittle people. And James is not amused.
James is saying, “this is not right”
And so we return to the verse 1 and James says, if you can’t control your tongue, your words, if you are praising God and belittling your spouse, you should not be teaching and calling people to obedience. Bring your tongue under the control of the Holy Spirit, before you use your tongue to instruct in the ways of God.