Real Faith for Real Life Faith Service Worship Vision
There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds. These sessions are not about opinion, they are about learning truth, the truth contained in the Bible, together we are going to focus on how we apply God’s truth, black & white in a grey world. To set godly priorities, grow in Christian character and live according to God’s standards so that we are a living witness to others. Notes from previous sessions are available from the Bible Study Section of www.ashingdonelim.co.uk.
Session 6
24 May 2011
Pierced Tongue or Piercing tongue? James 3:1-10
Do you like your mouth? What is your favourite word? What word do you use or overuse the most? Four Christians met for a friendly chat and they thought it would be helpful to discuss problems or sins with each other. Christian 1 would sneak off occasionally to a bar outside of town and get drunk. Christian 2 liked to go gambling. Christian 3 was addicted to smoking and would rush out of church after a service to go have a smoke. Christian 4 did not want to confess what their big sin was. Finally, she said, “Well, I think I should have gone first. You see, I am an incurable gossip and I can’t wait to get out of here!” If you have ever been the subject of gossip or lied about, you will understand the destruction that can be caused by what comes out of some people’s mouths and gossip is only one example. This study will focus on our mouths, specifically our tongues.
Does God need to give you a pierced tongue? Pierced tongues? Not pierced tongues like you see in some today with a stud in their tongue. But a pierced tongue so that we would be less likely to use our tongue to inflict damage on others or ourselves.
Have you ever had one of those moments when you have said something and then wished you had kept your mouth shut? All of have moments when we whished we had kept our mouths shut instead of blurting stuff out or saying something inappropriate. Let’s see what James tells us about the tongue. Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 1
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 7
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. (James 3:1-10) 9
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