Today we continue our series of living out your faith from the book of James. Our goal is to discuss how we live out our faith and God’s call when everyone is watching us.
In James chapter 1, we hit on two main points. The first point was The Testing Of Your Faith. We talked about how when we go through trials of many kinds, our faith is tested, and we come out on the other side lacking nothing. During those trials, we know that we can turn to God and get wisdom from God. We will be talking more about that wisdom today. The second point from that message was Hearing and Doing The Word. It is so easy to hear information but not allow it to be transformational. We need to take in God’s Word and then do something with it.
Last week we discussed not showing partiality towards people and how your faith apart from works is dead. Today we will be talking about Watching Your Tongue and having Wisdom From Heaven.
Watch Your Tongue
There is truly power in your words, and so often, we throw words around like they are cheap things that don’t mean anything. If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother someone else.
But sometimes, saying the same thing but different can have an amazing impact on someone's life. Check out this video.
In this video, the phrase used generated a different emotional response. I know that I can say one phrase and get people to understand and agree with me, but if I use a different phrase with the same intentions, I could trigger people who previously were on my side.
Insults from 30 years ago are no longer insults. I remember being called four eyes as a kid because I wore glasses. Wearing glasses is cool today, and if you call someone Four Eyes, they might think you are referencing a trending video on TikTok they haven’t seen yet.
Words and phrases that were commonplace years ago are now being canceled, and it can make people feel uncomfortable. My focus today is not to say is it right or wrong that these things happen. My focus is that we can control the words we use, and if we are intentional about what words we use, it can change the course of someone's life.
Don’t believe me? Let’s check the Bible. The Tongue is wild and naturally evil, but it can be controlled. How? By giving power of it over to God We can tame a lot of things, and we can control a lot of things, but we, on our own, cannot tame and control the tongue.
Think back to the passage where it talks about a ship being controlled by a small rudder. Hear this for a moment; a rudder on its own can be big, but in light of the entire ship is small. This device controls where the ship goes.
The bigger the ship, the bigger the rudder, but the bigger the ship, the harder it is to turn the ship around. It can take a Cruise ship around 5-6 minutes to come to a complete stop, and it will travel about a mile in the process. If it attempts to turn around from driving, it will take several miles to accomplish the feat safely.
The more influential of a person that you are, the more impact your words have. If you heard me swearing from the pulpit, many of you would likely be appalled. But many of us think nothing to do it on a personal basis.
But that is part of the reason James 3 also tells us that not everyone should aspire to be a teacher because teachers will be judged more harshly.
Wisdom From Heaven
Before you read this next portion, start by reading James 3:13-18.
How many of you would like to be wise this morning? If so, focus on Verse 17…
Pure – Are your motives free from any contamination?
We have all been around someone whose motives are to advance and get ahead. They give partial truths to try and manipulate a scenario for their gain. Here is why this is not Godly Wisdom. The truth will eventually find you out, and people tend to see through selfish motives. They can see what you are up to and what you are planning to do. If you want to look for God’s wisdom, let your motives be straightforward and pure.
Peaceable – You are not trying to create division intentionally.
Is there anyone in here that would consider yourself a pot-stirrer? While it can be fun at times, it’s not wise. If we are intentional with our words, as the beginning of James 3 talks about, we would realize that our words can hurt people.
So to love peace, we need not try and cause division. If anything, we need to work to get rid of division actively. I think this one, in particular, is something that the church as a whole is struggling with right now. In biblical times, the people wanted a king they could see. Now it is as if we need an enemy we can see, and we are making other people the enemy. We need to love peace so we can love people.
It thinks about others - Are you weighing others' opinions into your decisions?
If you want to be using wisdom from heaven, you need to think about how your decisions affect other people. Let's say you are single, and you feel God calls you to be a missionary in Asia. Good… Do it!
But if you are married with children, you need to think about your spouse and kids. You need to allow them to process and pray about it. You need God to speak to them as well. You may not like that waiting time, but it will be wise to do so, and it will allow them to hear from god as well.
It obeys – What has wise council told you?
If you are going to go to me, or to a mentor or someone you trust to get their opinion, you should really consider following it! Not that it is always perfect or the correct answer. But if you are going to say that this is someone you trust, it would be wise of you to listen and trust them!
It is full of mercy and good fruit – Are you serving others and showing God.
Mercy is defined as showing compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
But if Christ showed us mercy by his death and resurrection, it would be wise for us to do likewise to serve others and show mercy. It makes us look more like Christ, and any time you look more and more like Jesus, you are becoming wiser.
It is fair – Are you trying to get one up on someone else? Are you trying to get something you don’t deserve?
Similar to the idea of pure motives being pure, we need to make sure our motives are fair. If you operate by a different set of rules from everyone else, people will catch on. And ultimately, it will catch up to you!
It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not – Up Front and Honest
Realize that God created unique, with talents and abilities. You were born for just a time as this. Be who you are. Whenever you try to be someone else, you become a less successful version of them at best. That’s not wise. Be the best version of yourself that you can be.