Being Faithful In Our Speech [James 3:1-12]

I remember the first time I taught this to the ladies in my church, it was very quiet for a long time afterwards. And so they might, maybe we could have duct tape at the book table after this session.

But then we won't have a very fun lunch. But ladies, we are coming to a session that I think we really need to shore up on and that is being faithful with our speech. And I believe we as believers need to speak things that are edifying and encouraging one to another and encourage each other in the trials of life.

The Danger of an Uncontrolled Tongue

And some of the things that come out of a believer's mouth should not be. So turn in your Bibles to James 3, James 3, and we're going to look at being faithful with our tongue. I read an amusing story about a lady who told her pastor that she wanted to put her tongue on the altar to which he replied, madam, there isn't an altar big enough for your tongue.

Now, I'm sorry to say ladies that we as women have the greater temptation in this area as well as the greatest difficulty to control our speech. John Calvin said, talkativeness is the disease of women and it gets worse with age.

So look what you have to look forward to. He also said there's nothing more slippery or loose than the tongue. And I believe the power of self-control or the test of self-control many times for us as females is in this area of controlling our speech.

Every one of us in this room have stumbled with this. I'm very thankful for a husband who keeps me on track. We keep each other on track and I'm thankful for that. When my daughter was still at home, she's now married, has four kids, but she would also keep me on track.

In fact, I remember one time I was talking on the phone to someone when she was still living at home and I hung up and she said, mom, do you think that was necessary? What you just said to that lady and I was like, oh, so anyway, I'm thankful for the people in my life that keep me on track now because you and I are going to give an account before God on the day of judgment for every idol word that we speak, we're going to be either justified or condemned by our speech.

Then we need to keep our tongue under control. And I believe outside of the Proverbs, probably the strongest portion in the word of God regarding our tongue is the one we're going to look at in this session.

And ladies, we need to be faithful. Certainly we see today, just turn on the TV and well, don't turn on your TV, but you know, watch the news or even the programs that are the tongue is the what is coming out of people's mouths is horrendous.

And it's not just in the political world in our world. It's among Christians. I mean, what I've heard lately come out of some Christian speakers, mouths is not fit to be spoken. So I want you to turn you are in James one and we're going to see three things here.

The inability to control our tongues versus one to four, the iniquities of our tongue. There's going to be eight of them in versus five day. And lastly, the inconsistency of our tongue. Let's read the portion together.

And before we get into our time, my brethren, be not many teachers knowing that we will receive the greater judgment for many things. We all stumble. If any man offend, not a word. The same is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole body.

Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth that they may obey us. And we turn about their whole body. Behold, also the ships, which are these are so great and are driven by great winds. Yet are they turned about with a very small helm wherever the pilot will it.

Even so, the tongue is a member and gross boasts of great things. Behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindling and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is a tongue among our members that it defiled the whole body and set it on fire.

The course of nature and is set on fire of hell for every kind of birds and beasts and serpents of things is tamed and has been tamed. But the tongue can no man tame. It's unruly, evil, full of deadly poison there with blessed God.

Even the father there with cursory men who are made in the likeness of God out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Can a fountain send forth at the same place, sweet water and bitter.

Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine figs. So can no fountain yield both salt water and fresh. Now, James begins by talking to the brethren, the out, Alphonse and tells them they should not be many teachers.

The reason being is because in the biblical world to be a teacher, to be a rabbi was a position of esteem. It was a elevated position. And so because of that, many people were rushing into the office of being a teacher, being a pastor, being a rabbi, and they weren't qualified.

Their church services were very informal. They're not like ours. I mean, you all are being very well behaved. I appreciate that. But in the church at Corinth, you know, someone would stand up and say this, someone would do this.

And so they would stand up and spout off and all that. And James says, don't rush into that office of teacher. And ladies, when you think about it, since the primary use or the primary thing that a teacher uses is there's what their mouth, then he's saying, do not rush into that office of teaching because as a teacher of the word of God, we are responsible not only for what we say with our mouths, but how we live what we say.

In other words, if I don't live out what I'm teaching to you this weekend, I know that, I mean, this, this verse always puts the fear of God in me and makes me want to stop doing what I'm doing because I know what James is saying.

I am going to receive a stricter judgment as a teacher of the word of God to women. I'm going to receive a stricter judgment than you are if you're not a teacher, because my words that I give to you this weekend are meant to give you hope, encouragement, conviction, but I also have to live out what I teach, right?

So that means when Debbie and I leave this afternoon and we go to the Boston airport and our flights delayed or canceled, which often it is, and I'm not going to get to my church tomorrow morning. That means I have to react to trials just like you do.

And if I don't, guess what? I have an accountability person that's right there reminding me of, you know, Susan, this is God is sovereign and he's in control. And so James says, because of this, don't rush into the office of teaching because you're going to receive a stricter judgment.

John Calvin said this, it would be better for him to fall and break his neck while climbing to the pulpit than to preach the truth without first applying it to his own life. Now, ladies, if you're offended by my teaching this weekend, I pray it will be because of the convicting power of God's spirit in your life and not because something that I've said that was unguarded or should not have been spoken.

Now, just in case you think, well, I'm off the hook because I'm not a teacher. No, you're not off the hook. Look at verse two for many things. We all stumble ladies. Every one of us, whether you're a teacher or not, has at one time or another said things you shouldn't have said.

We all stumble, right? In fact, this is a universal fact. We all stumble. The word for stumble here is a moral lapse and it conveys the picture of our foot and you know, we get, we get it caught on something and we trip and we fall and we stumble.

Um, it's a failure in our daily walk, our Christian walk. But after we fall down, we recover and we pick ourselves up and keep going. A just man falls down seven times, the Bible says, but we get up and so we all stumble.

We all have said things at one time or another that did not bring glory to God. We've all gossiped, we've all slandered, we've all used flattery, we've all used un-Christ slang words. We've all done it and if we haven't spoken it with our mouth, we've thought it in our minds, right?

And God knows what we're thinking. So James says, if anyone does not offend in word, he's perfect. He's perfect. Now, why does James start with our mouth? Why doesn't he say, if any man doesn't offend with the hands or if any man doesn't offend with their eyes or if any man doesn't offend with their feet, why doesn't he start with that?

Because it is with our words that we express what's in our heart, isn't it? Remember what Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Ladies, whatever is in your heart comes out of your mouth.

Also when you think about it, do you know your tongue is apt to go places that your feet, hands and eyes would never take you? So what are some of the ways in which we offend with our mouth? Gossip, flattery, lying, hurtful, joking, sexual overtones, profanity, harsh words, angry words, negative speech, criticism, boasting of ourselves, putting others down, saying too much.

Proverbs 10 19 says in the multitude of words, transgression is unavoidable. So if you're a woman that likes to talk and never likes to close your mouth, I can guarantee you probably sin a lot with your mouth because in the multitude of words, transgression is unavoidable.

One woman, I think it was Elizabeth Elliot said, if you can't improve on the silence, don't break it. That's pretty good. Yeah. Um, praises to God that are not sung from your heart. So as we're singing this weekend, if you're mouthing some words, but you're not paying any attention to the words, that's a way that you're sending with your mouth.

Um, extremes like I never watch TV when you do, or I always go to bed at nine o 'clock when you don't exaggerations. I know one year my husband and I kept each other accountable for our speech because we noticed that when we were with people, you know how sometimes you make a story look just a little bit more colorful and I'd say, that's not how that happened.

Or he'd say, Susan, that's not how that happened. And so exaggerations, that's a form of offending with our tongue. It's, it's lying. And so, um, we get, we held each other accountable and we'd say, you're exaggerating.

And that was a little reminder to, to hone up in on the story and make it correct. Un-Christ like slang, um, screwed up, gee whiz, golly gosh, darn, have you always looked up those words? I've encouraged women to look those up in the dictionary.

When I was a little girl, if I said those words, my mother put a bar of soap in my mouth and I remember it impressed me so much when my kids did, I did the same thing. And, uh, and I, they didn't go on Oprah and complain about their mother washing out their mouth with soap.

I think some of us need to wash our hearts out, you know, with soap. Now, I'm sure I've left a few out, but you can get the picture, I'm sure. Now, if you're perfect in this area, notice what James says.

If you don't offend in any of these areas, then notice what he says. You're a perfect man, or in our case, a perfect woman, and you're able to bridle your whole body. Now, the word perfect here was used, a word that was used for animals that were full grown.

And so it describes a Christian who has attained a maturity of character. She's mature. She's, she has a knowledge of the word of God. She's reached a goal. She's not perfect, but she is maturing in her relationship with Christ.

And James says, if you do this, if you can control the tongue, not only are you mature in your character and Christ likeness, but you're able to bridle your whole body. What does that mean? Well, you're able to control your whole body just like a man does a horse by the bridle that he puts in his mouth.

In fact, the bridling here in the Greek means to lead as with a bridle. It doesn't refer to the actual bridling of the horse, but the leading of the horse to the desired destination through the help of the bridle.

And that's what James saying. If you can control your tongue, then you're able to bridle your whole body. Control your speech, ladies, and you can control any passion of your body. That's a great diet plan, isn't it?

We should package it, the James three diet. You know, we have Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and all that stuff. How about the James three diet? You know? Well, the able here in the Greek means a strong, powerful, inner, divine abling.

You're able to control your body. It ladies, it's a divine nature, which tells you to stop. Would Christ say that? And if Christ wouldn't say that, then the perfect woman, the mature woman doesn't say it.

I don't need to say this. This isn't necessary. This person doesn't need to know this. There's no reason for me to say this. Now, James gives us two powerful illustrations of small but powerful things that can destroy if left to themselves.

A horse without a bit and a ship without a rudder. Look what he says in verse three. Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Now, the horse would be a well-known animal to the biblical reader.

The ones who are listening to this epistle be read. But horses in the New Testament times were very different. They were mainly used for war. So you would have this prancing war horse, more mainly in the mind of the person who's reading this epistle, more so than a humble plow horse that just kind of trod along.

And when you think about it, the prancing war horse, the horses they would use for military would be more likely need to be fit with that bridle right to be controlled. Now, they tell us the average horse weighs one to two thousand pounds.

That's a lot. One to two thousand pounds. And yet it can be controlled by a bit that only weighs two pounds. So you have this two thousand pound animal that can be controlled by a two pound bit. And the point is this.

We put that little bit in the horse's mouth and we can make him go to the right. We can make him go to the left. We can make him go straight. We can make him go where we want to go right for the most part.

In fact, that same trip where my husband fell and I mean, my son fell and sliced his head. There was another lady riding in the car with us and about two hours before my son had his thing. Her daughter was riding a horse.

She rides horse for fun and it came to the thing and it wouldn't go anywhere and drop it stopped and threw her off the horse. And she heard her back in her neck and they had to check her for a concussion.

Third time she's been thrown from a horse. But most of the time we can make the horse go where we want to go. Right now, ladies, notice, according to this verse, the horse does not bridle himself. Right.

Have you ever seen a horse bridle itself? No. Someone else has to bridle him. Ladies, when it comes to us, it's God who fits us with the bridle and leads us in the right path. We must have that power that comes from somebody bigger than us.

And ladies, it's that inner ability that James just mentioned. We can't control our tongues, even though we have to do our part. It must be an inner divine enabling and help by the Holy Spirit. Now, when God does bridle us.

He doesn't expect us to act like a horse that's only obedient because we're being forced, but rather to see that bridle in our mouth as far benefit, right, because we love God. Ladies, no wonder David says, set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips.

Well, James goes on to say, we put the bit in the horse's mouth so that they will obey us. Why do we put that bit in the horse's mouth? So they'll obey us. They'll do what we say. In fact, he says we can turn them around.

In other words, we turn around the whole direction of of the way they're going. And ladies, that's why God wants to bridle us. You know, we're going down this way and I'm gossiping. I'm flattering. I'm telling dirty jokes.

I'm doing all this. And God puts that that brittle that bridle in our mouth, that bit. And why so that I can turn around and go this way and start speaking things that are encouraging, edifying, building people up.

That's what I'm supposed to use my mouth for. So, ladies, two goals in controlling our tongue should be obedience to God in a turnaround for our whole life. An uncontrolled tongue leads to sin, guilt and shame.

A controlled tongue leads to peace, power and victory. Well, James not only compares our tongue with a bridled horse, but now he compares it with a great ship. Notice what he says. Behold, the ships. They're so great, driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned about with a very small helm wherever the pilot wills.

Now, in the biblical world, there are also some very big ships, not like some of the cruise ships that we see today. I don't know if you've ever been on a cruise. My husband and I, we don't really like them, but we've been on a couple.

But they're very big. But even in the biblical world, there were some big ships. In fact, we know in Acts 27 that the ship that Paul was on that was shipwrecked, it carried 276 passengers in addition to all the cargo, which it probably would have weighed between, they tell us, 400 to 2000 tons.

I mean, that's a big ship. And in fact, James says, behold or low. Wow. In other words, the ship is a bigger illustration than even the horse, because ships are so large. And he says, behold, the ships, they're so great in comparison to the rudder or your translation might say the helm.

Now, the ancient rudder or helm was made in the shape of an oar and was connected to the ship's stern. And it was very, very small in comparison to a ship that could weigh up to 2000 tons. And so the winds would come.

And we know, according to Acts 27, that the winds blew the ship and, you know, crashed it up and everything. We know that from Jonah, too. I just was teaching that to my ladies last week. And we know that, you know, of course, Jonah was responsible for that and they had to throw him overboard.

But a great wind came and blew the ship around and all that. And so these ships would be driven by fierce winds. And unlike the horses, they had no will of their own. The ship would get out of control without the guiding power of the pilot who had control of the helm or the rudder.

But he could turn the ship wherever he wanted to go. It's interesting, the word here for pilot is a noun, actually, which means to guide straight. In other words, ladies, we can commit our tongues to the one who guides us straight.

And isn't it interesting that both the horse and the ship, James says, are turned about? Both of them go in the wrong direction. The horse go in the wrong direction, the ship going the wrong direction.

But with the rider or the pilot, they turn around and they go a different direction. There's repentance. Ladies, that's what repentance is. You're going this way with a certain life-dominating sin in your life, whether it's your tongue or something else, anger, bitterness, whatever, lying.

You're going this way. And repentance is what? You turn around and you go completely the opposite direction. Ladies, we as humans are like ships many times. We have many loads and burdens to carry, many fierce circumstances that come into our lives.

We talked about trials in the last session. But if you have a good tongue, you can go through these things blamelessly. Well, just as the bit and rudder are small objects in relation to the horse and ship, so is our tongue in relation to our body.

Look what James says in verse five. Even your tongue is a little member in both great things. Behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindling. Ladies, James is now going to give us eight iniquities of our tongue.

And if these don't motivate you to be godly with your speech, then I do not know what will. The first thing he says about our tongue, it boasts great things. Now, did you know the average tongue is three inches long and one and a half inches wide, even though my husband says I have one of the biggest tongues he's ever seen?

Maybe it has to do with my weird body. I don't know. Maybe I have. Maybe I have enough tongues for two people. I don't know, but three and a half inches long and one and a half inches wide. Now, ladies, that is little in comparison to our bodies, which average, you know, five, four or five, five, six.

And we weigh well, not me, but we weigh anywhere from 100 to 200 pounds. So the tongue is petite. It's little. And yet it's powerful. It's one of the most powerful members of our body. And it's also the largest troublemaker.

Right. And James says, notice, this is the first thing it boasts great things. Do you know your tongue seems to be conscious of its influence and power and boast, boast great things? How great we are.

In fact, my son, one time when he was at the master's college or seminary, I forget which which one, but he went to what's that guy's name? See, I knew I should never deviate from my notes. But the guy Schuller went to Schuller's church just to see what it was like.

He said, Mom, I go, Charles, what are you going there for? He goes, Well, I just want to see what it's like. So I remember that afternoon we talked. He said, Mom, you know what we sang? We sang a song about how great we were.

And I said, Charles, and you stood there and you know, you you sat there. You should flip, you know, fleet out the building. But ladies, that's what our tongue does. How great we are. And we're living in a very narcissistic culture.

It's all about me. Everything's about me. We boast of ourselves. Ladies, David says my soul will make her boast in the Lord. And we need to quit talking about ourselves and talk about the greatness of our God.

James goes on to say, behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindled. In other words, wow, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire. Now, ladies, when James says this, the readers would be very familiar with this terminology because the land of Palestine was known for its drought, long, dry, hot summers that produce forest fires.

And we know this. I mean, you know, California, the last few years, horrible forest fires. Or if you study any history at all, you remember the Chicago fire in 1871 happened by what? A cow that kicked over a lantern, right?

And I mean, the damage that it did to Chicago was unbelievable. And many of us have seen this as somebody throws a cigarette out the window as they're traveling down the highway and it sets a forest on fire.

And ladies, so can a word spoken by our tongue. Wow, behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindled. Ladies, our uncontrolled tongues can set our neighborhood on fire. I mean, I have a lady in my neighborhood.

She's known as the neighborhood gossip. She knows everything about everybody. She can set my whole neighborhood on fire with her tongue. Our church, you can set your church on fire with your tongue. I heard recently about a pastor's wife and her husband had to resign because she was slandering all the elders.

She set that whole church on fire. You can set your marriage on fire with your tongue. Do you know you can ruin someone's entire life by the power of your tongue? We're seeing that now in the political world.

How much of this stuff that we're hearing, is it true? Is it not true? I mean, I don't even know what's true anymore in the political world, but all the candidates are ruining the other candidate by the power of their tongue.

In fact, do you know that 10 minutes of unbridled temper with your tongue can waste enough strength to do a half day of wholesome work? 10 minutes of unbridled speech, anger, whatever you want to use your tongue for is enough energy that you need to do a half a day of housework.

That's how much energy you exert. I think some of us need to keep our mouths shut and instead use that energy to clean our homes, right? Ladies, our physical energy is a gift from God, isn't it? What a waste to use that energy to speak things in anger when we could be using that energy for something else.

In fact, they tell us a physician can tell a lot about how we're doing physically by what? What do they do? Stick out your tongue, right? I want to see down your throat. Do you know that is the same way with our spiritual physician?

He can tell how we're doing spiritually by what? Looking at our tongues to see what we're saying. And I'm afraid some of what our Lord sees is what Paul describes in Romans 3, 13 and 14, an open grave, deceptive, poisonous, like a snake full of cursing bitterness.

Ladies, these things should not be coming out of our mouth. Jesus says our mouth speaks what's in our heart, right? Evil thoughts, murders, adulterers, fornications, thieves, false witnesses, blasphemies.

Those are the things that defile us. Well, all three of the examples that James gives, the horse, the ship and the tongue are destroyed when left to themselves without someone to control them. The ship needs a sailor.

The horse needs a writer and your tongue needs a savior. So just in case you haven't got the message, James goes on to say in verse six, the tongue is a fire. This is a second characteristic or iniquity of your tongue.

It's a fire. Now, to speak of the tongue as a fire was an Old Testament concept. Proverbs 16, 27 says this, an ungodly man digs up evil and in his lips, there is as a burning fire. Now, ladies, James is using a fire as a metaphor to describe our tongues, destructive nature.

If left uncontrolled, it is like a deadly fire. And I know the first 10 years of my marriage, I was not a believer. And after God saved me at the age of 30, I'd done a lot of damage with my tongue a lot.

I had a temper. I mean, if you don't believe me, ask my husband, he used to say he was going to put on my tombstone. She did it her way. So that kind of tells you. And I tore my house down brick by brick by my uncontrolled temper.

I had a horrible temper. And I said things to my husband, I mean, after God saved me at the age of 30, I had to go in and repent of so much and just horrible things that I had said to him in a fit of rage.

It's like a deadly fire. And it's not only a fire, but James gives us a third characteristic of our tongue. He says it's a world of iniquity. What does that mean? Well, when he uses the word world, it's viewed as this present world's system.

Ladies, our tongue is a system of iniquity, a system of evil. This present world that you and I live in this faithless generation that you and I live in is opposed to God. Have you noticed that they're opposed to God?

I mean, we're still sort of Christian, but we're getting away from that. This world is responsive to Satan. And James is saying the tongue is unjust and unrighteous in character. And fallen man shows himself to be a part of this evil system by using his tongue to express the evils that are in his heart.

Ladies, as a Christian, our sanctified tongue should condemn unrighteousness, but an evil tongue will compliment it. It will flatter it. It will make it appear righteous. Well, James goes on to give us the fourth description of our tongue.

He says it defiles the whole body, defiles the whole body. It pollutes your body like a moral leprosy does, like cancer. It influences all the members. Debbie and I have a friend that has pancreatic cancer and she just was at MD Anderson a few days ago and her whole body is full of cancer.

That's what James say. It can defile your whole body. And isn't it interesting, James says, a bridled tongue controls our body and yet an unbridled tongue, what? Defiles the whole body, defiles the whole body.

Ladies, a filthy tongue makes for a filthy person. And not only that, but number five, James says it sets on fire the course of nature. Sets on fire the course of nature. Now, what does that mean? Well, the course of nature actually means a wheel of nature.

And what James is saying here is the moment you were born, your life started going, right? It's like a wheel. And the older I get, the faster that wheel goes. I mean, it's like, really, where does time go?

I don't know. And so life is presented here as a wheel. And so, you know, you're going around, you know, with that wheel of life that's turning and turning and turning. And some of us are going through life making constant evil with our tongue.

And we're thinking, you know, nothing's going to ever stop me. I'm just going to keep using my tongue for evil. James says, you're a fool. You don't stop and think that your tongue affects everything that you touch.

You don't realize that wheel of life is going to catch fire. And then you're going to have to stop and think of the consequences of your tongue. The more it burns, the faster it resolves to the whole wheel spins in a blaze, spitting fire in all directions.

That's what James is saying. It's a world of iniquity. It sets on fire the course of nature. But ladies, the tongue is only a fuse. The source of the deadly fire is hell. And that is the sixth description James gives us.

It is set on fire of hell. Now, the term for hell here is Gehenna, which would be known to the Jew as a literal place. The Jews would offer their children to the god of Moloch. They would actually burn them alive in the fire.

It also became a place where they would burn trash and dung. And, you know, it's just putrefying. If you've ever been to India, that's kind of the smell you smell when you get off the plane. It's just putrefying.

And so Gehenna or the Valley of Gehenna became an image of the place of everlasting torment, which was hell. It burned all the time, burned flesh, burned rubbish, burned humans, burned children. The fire never went out.

It continually burned. And the idea here that James is trying to get across to us is the tongue can do so much evil, that wheel that spins, and yet it gets its origin from what? Hell. That's where it comes from.

Ladies, nothing could better characterize much of what our tongue does than to say it has its origin in hell and it has the spirit that reigns there. Did you know Satan is behind all evil speech? Satan is behind all evil speech.

John 8, 44 says, you're of the father of the devil. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own for he is a liar and he is the father of it. So anytime we use our tongues for evil, we're allowing Satan.

We might as well say, hey, you know, can't say the devil made me do it, but that's where it's coming from. Ladies, all evil talk has its beginning in hell and can cause your whole body to burn in hell if we do not put that off.

Well, James, in fact, Jesus says in Matthew 5, we won't turn there, but in Matthew 5, he says, it'd be better that one of your members be cut off than for your whole body to be cast in hell. Remember, he told the Jews, if you're right, I offend you.

Pluck it out and cast it from you for it's better to what? Go into heaven without your eye than to spend eternity in hell. If your right arm offends you, cut it off. Cast it from you. It's better to go into heaven without an arm than to have your whole body be cast into hell.

And some of us may need to cut out our tongue. So there'd be better to enter into heaven without a tongue than our whole body be cast into hell. Well, James goes on to say in verse seven, he says, for every kind of beast and of birds and of serpents and of things is in the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

Interesting. James says even animals can be controlled, but the tongue is untamable. He says every kind of animal. In fact, every animal he mentions here would describe any type of animal you could think of.

Beasts, birds, serpents, things in the sea. And James says we can tame every animal. This means we can subdue them. We can control them. In fact, we know from Genesis one, 26, that man was given dominion over the animal world, the fish of the sea, the foul of the air.

God gave us the ability to control them. We can subdue these animals. In fact, we see a lot of them in the zoo, don't we? We can subdue almost any animal we can capture. We can put it in the zoo and take our children there and pay lots of pay lots of money.

And we can go see these animals. Now, doesn't mean we can make pets out of all of them. And believe me, there's some I wouldn't want, even though my husband at one time wanted to get a snake and call it Satan.

But then, and he wanted to keep it in his office in the church. And a lot of people, a lot of ladies were threatening to leave the church if he did that. So I'm thankful he never got that snake named Satan.

But, but we can control them. We can even capture snakes, can't we? And we can put them in cages and we go look at them at the zoo. In fact, the power of man to be able to capture and control these animals is unbelievable.

And yet, even though is this is very remarkable. James says, we can't control our tongue. Look, no man, verse eight, no man can control the tongue. Ladies, only God can only God can help us control our tongue.