If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart,
this person's religion is worthless. (Jas 1:26)
A few weeks ago we looked at the most important component of a bridled tongue. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to start there. This article will only be helpful in the context of the other.
What does it mean to bridle the tongue? James writes in ch3, “…we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us…” In other words, we bridle horses in order to control them. Anyone who has ridden a horse can understand the function of a bridle. There are a couple of ways that a bridle controls a horse…and a couple of ways that we ought to control our tongues.
First, a bridle is useful for stopping. A horse can be a restless animal, especially when it sees the barn. Even if I tried I could never forget learning this lesson while riding a horse at a relative’s house in Texas. Nobody warned me about horses’ thing for barns. I climbed into the saddle and took the horse around to the back side of the house. As soon as we rounded the corner, the horse saw the barn. I learned later, that the barn means rest and food to the horse. It’s all the about the barn. This horse instantly took off at a full gallop. Holding onto the saddle horn for dear life with both hands, I was inexperienced enough that I didn’t have the balance to use one hand to pull back on the reins. If I had, I could have stopped the horse or pulled it back to a more leisurely pace.
Sometimes the tongue “sees the barn.” It has something to say—in anger, in retort, in jest—and it seemingly has a mind of its own. It must get to the barn, must say what it has to say. To have a bridled tongue is to have the ability to stop ourselves from racing to say what it should not say.
But stopping a horse is not the only utility available afforded by a bridle. Second, a bridle is useful for steering. The bridle is not simply about stopping a horse from going where it shouldn’t. It is for leading the animal where the rider wants to go. On that day when the horse took off for the barn, we very quickly arrived there, and the horse naturally wanted to stay. But I had the reins. So I pulled it back toward the house and led it where I wanted it to go.
Similarly, as believers, our goal is not merely to refrain from ungodly speech, but to use our words for godly ends. The Word has much to say about profitable uses of speech. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:29, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (cf Psa 37:30; Pro 15:7, 23).
A bridled tongue is not just a tongue kept out of trouble, but a tongue kept in service to the Lord. This is the standard “put off and put on” theme of sanctification in the Bible (Eph 4:22-24). We do not merely strive to discontinue ungodly behavior, but to replace it with godly behavior.
Regarding the first function of bridling the tongue—preventing evil speech—we should pray Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” We should pray this each morning and in those moments before spending time with people. When we fail, we should repent and seek forgiveness as quickly as possible.
Regarding the second function of bridling the tongue—speaking words that build up—we should pray Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” We could also plan ahead about how to steer conversations toward meaningful topics. We could have a mental list of things to share or questions to ask during a lull in the conversation.
Assuming we have in place the most important component of a bridled tongue (discussed in the previous article), intentionality will result in a tongue that refrains from evil and pours forth good.
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