Our mouths are attached to our hearts.

Do you ever sit in church service listening to a message that intertwines with your heart and convicts you on a level that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God gave that message to your pastor so that he in-turn would speak that message to you?  

This morning Pastor John picked back up in James chapter 3 and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that today's message was specifically for ME and my sinful heart.  

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.


Things to consider...
1. (v. 1)  Limit your audience.  
- Right from the get-go, teachers will be accountable with a greater strictness.  Why?  Pupils are vulnerable.  They are easily swayed. 
- Remember your audience on all forms of social media.  On social media, I am a representative of Jesus and all He has done in my life.

2. (v. 5)  Get to the heart of the tongue..
Dynamite comes in small packages.  Little things do matter. It's not that the writer of James just blows it off by saying, your tongue is small so don't worry about what you say.  No - quite contrare!  God gives us examples of fires and ships.  Both are effected by "small things."  Our "small words" matter.

Luke 6:45 states: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Clearly we cannot separate our tongues from our hearts.  They are intertwined.  

Slander and gossip are destructive.  Both actions do not represent the heart of God.  As a Christian, I represent God.  My representation of Him should matter to me.

3. (v. 9)  Repent of your divided heart.  

- Unruly means restless

Do not bless God and curse people made in His image.  This is why I love the thought-provoking sentiment near the end of the passage that asks if a fountain can contain both salt and fresh water. 

Repenting of my divided heart is a choice.  

A. Do not excuse your sin under Romans 3:23 "All have sinned..."  Yes, all have sinned but shouldn't my heart's desire to be to represent Jesus to the unsaved world?  

* God is offended when I hurl arrows at others. *

B. Acknowledge my divided heart as the sin that it is.  Realize I cannot change my divided heart...only God can change me.  Only God can help me.  

I am saved and am not Home yet.  My "job" is to put God on display!  I'm His ambassador here!