Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 3, Verse 10 “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

James goes from tongue to mouth, but we understand that his concern is our speech. The mouth is capable of talking out of both sides as the saying goes. The same mouth that blesses can also curse. That is because the mouth gets its words from the heart. A double-minded heart will definitely be able to produce double-minded speech.

Both James and Jesus saw a person’s speech as a measure of their heart. Jesus says, “…it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matt. 15:11) And, later, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.” (v. 18)

We must not treat this as a minor issue. Using our tongue to harm another person is a sinful thing that must be answered in the judgment. Jesus again, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36, 37)

Task for Today: How often do you inventory your speech? How affected by the language of others are you? If your heart is pure, then your speech will be pure. If you participate in a conversation, does your choice of words and meanings improve the spiritual tone and negate it. Time to listen to James? Please do. You will give an account for your heart.