The Bible Says No One Can Tame The Tongue?

James 3:8
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

If no one can tame the tongue, are we hopelessly at the mercy of whatever the tongue does? If the tongue is a restless evil and no one amongst us all can tame it, aren’t we permanent slaves to the whims of the evil tongue? If the tongue is full of deadly poison, and we cannot tame it, is there hope of surviving the effects of its poison? Is it true that no human can tame the tongue?

Does this mean that no one has power over evil? Does it mean we will all get lost in sin because the tongues can’t be helped but be sinful? Does it mean therefore that we are all hell bound? Does it mean that we may get saved even though we are sinners since we can’t avoid the sinfulness of the tongue?

Revelation 21:27
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Does the Bible contradict itself? Can the Bible promise on one hand that nothing impure will enter into heaven and eternal life, yet on the other hand promise salvation to any of us who accepts God’s will, and each of us has an impure tongue? Anyone stuck in sin cannot be saved, yet we are all stuck with a sinful tongue. Is the promise of salvation to anyone a contradiction in scripture in the light of our key text today?

Anytime you have difficulty understanding scriptures, you read further on. If you get stuck where you don’t understand, you may never get answers. If you read ahead and read around the difficult text, you will get answers to your questions. Let us read ahead and find out what else Apostle James wrote on this topic.

James 3:9-12
(9) With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. (10) Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (11) Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? (12) My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

The Bible tells us that the tongue can praise God and curse human beings. The tongue can bless and curse. Then the Bible sheds further light by saying a stream is as good as its source. If the source is full of blessings, the stream will flow with blessings. If the source is full of curses, the stream will flow with curses. Therefore, the tongue is not the issue, but the source of that which the tongue says.

Apostle James shows us that beyond the evil tongue is a source that can be controlled. The tongue will only do what its source commands it to do. We may not be able to tame or control the tongues, because the problem is not the tongue but its source can be controlled.

Mark 7:20-23
(20) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. (21) For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, (22) adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. (23) All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

A person is defiled by what comes from within. The tongue that is defiled will definitely defile the person. Slander, arrogance, and folly can all be traced to the speaking ability, the tongue. The problem according to Jesus, is the source that these things come from. If you are evil within you, your tongue will be an evil tongue. How is your source? We may not be able to control the tongue, but we can control the source.

Isaiah 6:5-7
(5) “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
(6) Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. (7) With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. ”

Isaiah was worried about his tongue. Isaiah confessed that he had unclean lips and he lived among those who had unclean lips. When God heard Isaiah’s cry, God did not leave him to be a victim of an ever evil tongue. God saved Isaiah by forgiving him and touching him to change his source of what the tongue did. God can touch us and change the source.

If the source remains untouched, no one can tame the tongue. Only God can touch the source that is deep within us. Only God knows the source of the spring. No human being can tame the tongue, but God can tame it. God can end the careless speeches that have cost us friends and relationships. God can tame our tongues that have put us in trouble. God can tame what none of us can tame. May God who can do the impossible, save us from the consequences of our tongues. May God come into our lives today and change the source of what our tongues do and say. Dear God, touch us and change the source of our tongue activities, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

1. Rei Kesis YouTube Channel (subscribe, click on notification and share) –http://youtube.com/reikesis
2. Rei Kesis books on Amazon (Amazon will sell and deliver anywhere in the world. For those in Kenya you can buy from any ABC close to you. ABC is Adventist Book Center) –https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rei+kesis&ref=nb_sb_noss
3. Rei Kesis daily blog –https://reikesis.com/