The Wellspring of Life

A Series on the book of James
Taming the tongue
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
James 3:1-12 

[James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. In some ways, it’s similar to Old Testament wisdom literature like Proverbs. It includes many practical applications to help a believer grow in their faith. In this series, we will look at the wisdom of James’ letter and how it applies to our lives.]

  

Super Bowl LX is coming up in eight days and the hype for the commercials has already started. Not the least of these is a Budweiser ad featuring a galloping Clydesdale, a soaring bald eagle, and the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 

Clydesdale horses are so majestic. My wife loves them. In 2018, we went to the Ohio State Fair, where they had a barn full of them. She was thrilled to see them up close and personal. And when you do, it’s impossible to imagine that a small metal bit can control a massive 2000-pound horse that is bred for heavy work.

 

James wrote his letter to Jewish Christians who had been scattered throughout the world. As a result, they were immersed in adverse conditions. In the previous chapter, he wrote about the importance of their deeds matching their faith. Now in this passage, he focused on their speech matching their faith.

 

To do this, James used a horse’s bit as a metaphor for the tongue. Just like a bit can control a horse, so the tongue can control a person. But there’s a problem. The tongue causes tremendous destruction both to the person and to others.

 

^5b But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. ⁶ And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.                                               NLT

 

The word used here for hell comes from the Hebrew word Gehenna and refers to the Hinnom Valley south of Jerusalem. This valley had been a burial ground used for burning the corpses of criminals and animals, as well as any kind of trash. But even more gruesome than that is the fact that it was also a place used for child sacrifices to the god of Molech.

 

So, to say that your tongue “is set on fire by hell itself” would bring a terrifying image to the mind of the people James wrote. But he wasn’t finished.

 

⁷ People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.              NLT

James’s prognosis of the tongue is terminal. There’s no twelve-step program. We can’t fix it by sheer willpower. The problem with our tongue is that it’s an overflow of something deeper. According to Jesus, it’s an issue of the heart.

 

¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  NIV    Matthew 15

 

Therefore, to change your tongue, you need to change your heart. Only a renewed heart can produce pure speech. Here’s what the author of Proverbs advised his own children about this.

 

²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.       NIV    Proverbs 4

 

To protect your heart means to guard your thoughts, emotions, and will. Because, like a small bit, it's the source that determines the course of your life.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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If you’re interested, below is a link for the commercial with the Clydesdale.

 Clydesdale Super Bowl commercial