“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain (empty)” (James 1:26).

Plumbing question………can you get drinking water and sewage out of the same pipe?  The Scripture asks this question in regards to speech, “Can a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?” (James 3:11).

The answer is an understood “No!”  What we get from the pipe is determined by the source.  If the source is fresh clean spring water, we get fresh clean spring water.  If the source is contaminated, contaminated water will come out.  According to the source we receive one or the other, but not both.

James is dealing with the tongue.  In chapter three he calls the tongue a fire, a world of iniquity.  He goes on to say that every kind of beast, bird, reptile and sea creature has been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue.  He calls it an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless God and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God.  In verse 10 of chapter three, James says “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

Consider the source of our words.  Christ said, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man” (Matthew 15:11).  He continues in verse 18, “those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”  Christ is speaking again in Matthew 12:34b where he says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”. 

Let’s be honest with ourselves.  What characterizes our speech? The character of our speech and the content of our thoughts reveal the condition of our heart.  Do we find ourselves in a bad way?  

Reforming our speech is not the answer.  That would be like the doctor giving an aspirin and a band aid for a ruptured appendix.  We would die.  If we just reform our speech, we would still die and go to hell.  The answer is a new source, a new man.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).  A new creature is born when we accept God’s provision for our sin by inviting Christ into our heart to be our personal Saviour.

The remedy for a Christian who is having trouble controlling his tongue is a renewed mind and no unconfessed sin.  “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).  

The word for transformed is the same as for metamorphosis.  This is referring not to an external change (conformation), but rather a complete change (transformation) from the inside out.  It starts at salvation and continues as we read, study and meditate on God’s Word which is the sword of the Spirit.  “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).  

Believers should read the Scriptures, meditate on what they mean and how they apply to our lives, allowing God’s truth and the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out.

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).