As a follower of Christ, our adversary, the devil, is the father of lies and is delighted when we speak words that are false, proud, jealous, and motivated by selfish ambition. In that sense, our bitter words glorify Satan instead of glorifying Jesus. No wonder James tells us in James 3:6 “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” This demonic source plays out in three different types of bitter speech. First, it can involve our evaluation of a past event. Bitterness invariable skews our circumstances, and we must be aware of falsehoods that are often spawned in our own bitter heart. For example, the children of Israel remembered their slavery in Egypt as having pots full of meat and plenty of bread (Exodus 16:3). Second, the fires of hell can produce false evaluations of our present difficulties. In Exodus 16:3 Israel said to Moses, we wish we “had died by the LORD”s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we … READ MORE

James 3:3-4 reminds us that, “We put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.” When a husband speaks bitter words of complaint against their wire, it is like watching him slap her in the face. It only takes a few bitter words spoken in an average month to kill a marriage, a family, a workplace, or a church. James them makes a stunning acknowledgement about the tongue in James 3:9-10, “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in teh similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” We need to take time to consider how we tend to speak about hurts and disappointments. As we retell a story, is our narrative laced with bitter words? Does listening to you talk sound like drinking a fresh glass of water, or something bitter? It only takes occasional bitterness to poison a a situation … READ MORE

What words come out of your mouth? In James 3, we are challenged to consider our speech, because it is a reflection of our heart. Careful examination of the passage shows that bitterness comes up in this passage. This leads us to a question, are we incensed at the thought that we could be poisoning our family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors with our words? The good news is that the gospel is powerful enough to impact even the way we speak. The challenge of bitter speech is that it is a universal problem. All of us struggle with this issue. James 3:2 reminds us that “we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” Yet we are reminded in James 3:8 “no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” We need to evaluate how much time we put on discerning whether our words are pleasing to God and free of sinful bitterness. The power to overcome comes through the transformation that comes to anyone who puts their faith in the Word of God, and the indwelling Spirit … READ MORE