James 3:8-11 “But no one can control the tongue. It is wild and evil, full of deadly poison. We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people who were created in God’s likeness. These praises and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. Do good water and bad water flow from the same spring? Of course not. My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree make olives? Or can a grapevine make figs? No, and a well full of salty water cannot give good water.”
Sometimes our tongues get us into trouble. In our movie clip from A Christmas Story not only do Flick’s prideful words get him into trouble; he actually ends up getting his tongue into trouble as it gets stuck to the pole on this freezing cold day. Flick said so many words with his tongue he just had to take the triple dog dare or be labeled a coward!!!
In our scripture, the author James writes that we cannot speak both good and bad from our tongues. We can’t gossip in one breath and compliment in the next. He says praises and curses should not come from the same mouth, olives can’t come from fig trees, figs cannot come from grapevine…we must be careful about what words we say, and guard what comes from our lips, our tongues and our hearts. For to love God is to live in love, respect and kindness with one another.
