Life According to James DAY THREE

Wisdom from Heaven

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:17-18 NIV

Taming the Tongue

James continues his meddling with believers, challenging whether our lives are truly reflective of a disciple of Christ. Again, he talks about the words coming out of our mouths. James compares our tongues to a bit in the mouth of a horse or a rudder of a large ship or a small spark which creates a forest fire. He speaks about this small part of our body which has such great capacity for destruction. No wonder James told us earlier in James 1:19 that we should be “slow to speak.”

A good friend of mine, Tim Cameron, wrote a book called “The Forty-Day Word Fast,” which I’ve referenced before, but it is worth repeating. Tim discovered that his own words through the years had taken him away from a close communion with God. He categorizes the toxic words that tear down believers into six areas: judgment, criticism, negativity, gossip, sarcasm, and complaining. We may not even realize the hazardous use of our tongue.

It reminds me of a man who lead a Bible study I was attending, who had the last name Saylor. He admitted that he was guilty of having a foul mouth. He said, “My father cussed like a Saylor. And I cussed like a Saylor.” One day, everything changed for him when he read Luke 6:45 NIV:

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit convicted him. If these vile words were coming out of his mouth, then what was going on in his heart? From that day forward, he stopped cussing and began guarding his heart.

Two Kinds of Wisdom

James goes on to test our hearts, as he probes further into our actions. He continues on a similar line of thinking as before—our pursuit of worldly wealth and power are a stumbling block to our faith. He sums up the devil’s wisdom and influence into two areas: envy and selfish ambition. He says there you will find “disorder and every evil practice.” James 3:16 NIV

He contrasts that to the wisdom that comes from heaven: purity, peace, consideration, submissiveness, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, and sincerity. If this is how we live our lives, he says it results in a “harvest of righteousness.” James, who wrote this book, was thought to be the brother of Jesus. If so, he would have probably heard Jesus give his grapevine theology . . . if a man abides in Me, he will bear much fruit. This supernatural fruit looks like this: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We cannot manufacture this kind of wisdom or this kind of fruit by our own strength, will, or discipline. No, it only comes through abiding in Christ.