The Story of Balaam<\/a>” for more details.<\/p>\nVerse 2:\u00a0<\/strong>While we need to control our tongue, the practical view is that we will all fail at times, just like everyone falls prey to sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us<\/em>” (I John 1:8). This doesn’t mean we don’t try. It means we must appreciate the magnitude of the problem before us.<\/p>\nVerses 3-6:\u00a0<\/strong>James proves that size doesn’t indicate the power something has. The tongue reflects the thoughts in our minds. Thus the way we talk often reflects the way we go. “For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man<\/em>” (Mark 7:21-23). Sins don’t just happen. They are contemplated, they are talked about, long before they are actually done.<\/p>\nVerses 7-8:<\/strong>\u00a0We cannot let our guard down. The tongue (and the thoughts it reflects) can never be fully controlled. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:12).<\/p>\nVerses 9-12:<\/strong>\u00a0Man is inconsistent. It is something that ought not to be, but it is.<\/p>\nVerses 13-18:<\/strong>\u00a0People tend to behave in the manner in which they think. Problems in a person’s life, the way he behaves and the sins he commits, are a reflection of the person’s attitude. Jesus uses the same point to tell us how to spot a false teacher. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them<\/em>” (Matthew 7:15-20).<\/p>\nWhen you see discord, arguments, and strife between people, you can be sure that one or more of the people involved have an improper attitude toward other people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: James 3 seems to be talking about keeping our mouth under control and not to boast about everything we can do.\u00a0What is it that comes from your mouth and corrupts the whole body? To speak good things and bad things is wrong. It has to be one way.\u00a0It also compares the earthly wisdom (which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[981,335,451],"class_list":["post-11642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-communication","tag-james","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-wise-teacher-guards-his-tongue\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":0},"title":"The Wise Teacher Guards His Tongue","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant \"He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding\" (Proverbs 17:27). Those who preach and teach are people of words. That's obvious, as that's how we proclaim the message. But how we use our tongue can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/guard-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10927,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-james-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":1},"title":"Questions about James 1","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read the first chapter, it was only a page so I hope its the right one.\u00a0 I think I got most of it. It talks about being joyful for the trials because they give you patience. the more you face things the easier it gets?\u00a0 Then it says\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70701,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-nature-of-godly-wisdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":2},"title":"The Nature of Godly Wisdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward, Jr. \"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29150,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-fools\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":3},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom – Fools","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shelomiths-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":4},"title":"Shelomith’s Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Leviticus 24:10-23 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shelomith had married a non-Israelite and it appears that her son took more after his father than his mother \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He got into a fight with an Israelite. During the fight he cursed and blasphemed the name of God. For this he was jailed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wisdom-from-above\/","url_meta":{"origin":11642,"position":5},"title":"Wisdom from Above","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant \"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable\u00a0(easy to be entreated\" ASV), full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy\" (James 3:17, NASB). Wisdom should be a much-desired quality. We remember when Solomon ascended the throne following his father David, God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}