James

James 3: God gives wisdom from above

Begin in prayer

Before your family reads James 3, please come to God, who gives pure and peaceful wisdom where human strength fails. Ask Him to expose the poison in our words and to show us the mercy of Jesus.

To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”

Job 28:28

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that no one can tame the tongue, and that You send wisdom from above that is full of mercy. Show us Jesus, and make us more like Him. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

After warning about empty words, James turns to teachers, who will receive heavier judgment. A tongue can direct a whole life as a little rudder steers a large ship. Its evil can also spread like a forest fire, and nobody can tame it. James exposes the wrong of blessing God while cursing people made in His image. That divided speech leads to a question about wisdom, since bitter jealousy and selfish ambition produce confusion and every evil deed. Wisdom from above is pure, peaceful and merciful, and peacemakers sow righteousness in peace.

As you read James 3, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God gives pure and peaceful wisdom for hearts and tongues that no person can tame.

James has already shown how words can leave a hungry believer without help. Now the bit and rudder show why a small tongue matters to the whole person. Its harm spreads like fire, and James traces that fire to Gehenna, the place of God's judgment. People tame animals, yet their own speech defeats their strength. A spring cannot give fresh and bitter water from one opening, so blessing God while cursing His image exposes a divided heart. Bitter jealousy produces a kind of wisdom James calls earthly, sensual and demonic. Wisdom from above instead bears good fruit, beginning with purity and bringing mercy and peace. God gives this wisdom, and Christ Himself is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1 verses 24 and 30).

How does James 3 show us that God gives pure and peaceful wisdom for hearts and tongues that no person can tame?

The tongue is small, but it can do great harm.

A bit is small, and a rudder is small, yet they guide a horse and a ship (verses 3 and 4). The tongue is a small member that boasts great things, like a small fire in a large forest (verse 5). It defiles the whole body (verse 6). Parents, you may want to explain verse 6 in your own words, because Gehenna is the place of God's judgment.

No person can tame the tongue.

People have tamed every kind of animal, but nobody can tame the tongue (verses 7 and 8). The same mouth blesses God and curses people made in His image (verses 9 and 10). A spring does not send out fresh and bitter water from one opening (verse 11). A heart that is bitter needs God to change it. Only Jesus Christ has never stumbled in word.

God sends wisdom from above, which is pure and peaceful.

Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition may claim to be wisdom, yet they produce confusion and every evil deed. James calls that wisdom earthly, sensual and demonic. Heaven's wisdom is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable and full of mercy. Those who follow Jesus sow peace in the conduct that grows from this gift.

Memorise

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

James 3:17

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what words from my mouth show I need a new heart from Jesus?

James says the tongue is “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. If you are honest, you know your own mouth. You cannot tame it, and neither can anyone else.

But there is One whose mouth was never full of poison. Jesus Christ was pure, gentle and full of mercy. On the cross He bore the punishment for His people, including the sins their tongues had spoken. He paid that debt in full, and no sin of His people was left unpaid. Then God raised Him to life. The wisdom from above is seen in Him.

So come to Jesus, you whose words have done harm. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Him. Ask Him for a new heart, because only He can change what a person is. Jesus makes clean everyone who comes to Him. The Lord who cleanses guilty mouths also teaches His people to speak with mercy.

Parent's note

Tell your children that no one can tame the tongue, and that only Jesus can change a heart. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. When your own words have hurt them, please let your children hear you ask their forgiveness.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for sending wisdom from above, seen perfectly in Jesus, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Lord Jesus, thank You that Your mouth spoke no sin, and that You paid for the sin of Your people, even their sins of the tongue. Please give us a new heart, and help us to turn from sin and trust You. Make our words gentle this week. Amen.