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How you are and who you are the result of the consequence of words.

Words change your world.

James' goal is integrating identities in Christ that have disintegrated.

The tool is humility which is a view of self that's not elevated too highly or diminished too severely but looks at yourself accurately through God's viewpoint.

God's goal is integrity where my inconsistency is built to maturity.

I.The Tongue Can Help - It's Accountable

II.The Tongue Can Harm or Hone - It's Powerful

III.The Tongue Can Heal - It's Inconsistent

Great care and great prayer must go into becoming a teacher of God's Word.

Don't pursue the position if you are unwilling to embrace the responsibility.

I. The Tongue can Help - It's Accountable

II. The Tongue Can Harm or Hone - It's Powerful

The tongue is little but giant in God's eyes

Most conflict begins with words not weapons.

When my world is on fire, in a world of hurt, it almost always starts with a spark from my tongue.

The Tongue is Hard to Tame

George M. Stulac: Spread gossip, and people will not trust you. Speak with sarcasm and insults, and people will not follow you. Yet what is especially on James’s mind is not the reaction of others to your speech but the spreading of sin from your speech to the rest of your life. Be hateful with your tongue, and you will be hateful with other aspects of your behavior. If you do not discipline and purify your speech, you will not discipline or purify the rest of your life.

I.The Tongue Can Help - It's Accountable

II.The Tongue Can Harm or Hone - It's Powerful

III.The Tongue can Heal - It's Inconsistent

The One we Praise is no less than our Lord and Father.

The One we Curse is made in God's likeness.

Therefore, to treat people with contempt nullifies my worship of God.

Such inconsistency is unthinkable to God

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” (C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory)

Words Make Worlds - Allow your Words and Worship to Match

Check your Heart

Check your Course

Track Your Tongue

🔹 Personal Reflection & Identity
1.Can you recall a time when someone’s words significantly shaped your confidence or self-worth—for better or worse? How did those words impact your identity?
2.What inner voices from your past still “speak” to you today, and how do they align or conflict with what God says about you?
3.How might your perception of yourself change if you viewed your life through the “lens of God’s story”?

🔹 Spiritual Growth & Integrity
4.James calls believers to be “teleios”—whole, mature, and complete. What parts of your life (work, family, church, private life) feel disintegrated from your spiritual identity?
5.What does humility look like in your day-to-day life? How can humility help bring integration across the different versions of yourself?

🔹 Power of the Tongue
6.According to James, “the tongue is powerful.” In what ways have you seen speech either damage or heal a relationship?
7.Have you ever tried to “bridle” your tongue during a moment of frustration or emotion? How did that experience go?
8.“Check my mouth, chart my course.” How does this phrase challenge you in your current season of life?

🔹 Community & Encouragement
9.What role do your words play in the lives of others? Are you more often a source of healing or harm with your speech?
10.How can we create a church or small group culture where healing and restoration happen through encouraging, truth-filled words?

🔹 Application & Transformation
11.What practical steps can we take to speak with more intention, grace, and truth on a daily basis?
12.Who in your life needs a word of healing or encouragement this week? What will you say or do?