James urges us to be quick to hear and slow to speak. Akin to slowness of speech is knowing when to stay silent. Sometimes the wisest person in the room is also the quietest. They don’t feel the need to spout their opinion or justify themselves constantly. Instead, they sit back, listen, and speak only when a word is fitting and necessary. Rash words often cause us the most grief; often, if we had stayed silent, no harm would have come from our mouths. Just as we can’t put toothpaste back in the tube, neither can we take our words back once they’ve been spoken.

You’ve probably never heard of exendin-4, but you most likely learned about the Gila monster in elementary school. (If you haven’t, the Gila monster is one of the world’s only venomous lizards.) Exendin-4 is a toxin found in the Gila monster’s saliva that causes extreme pain and low blood pressure in its victims. Interestingly, this toxin also impacts humans similarly to the hormones that regulate blood sugar and insulin in our bodies. Scientists determined that metered doses of this substance can help patients with type 2 diabetes regulate their blood sugar and lose weight. Today, you can even find synthetic versions of exendin-4 in popular GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.

Exendin-4 is a toxin turned into a treatment. Something that affects us as a painful poison can also function as a powerful prescription that could potentially save many lives. As Christians, our tongues can serve a similar purpose. In James’ epistle to a group of scattered Jewish Christians, he describes the tongue using approximately nine different examples and illustrations. In one of his shortest and most pointed illustrations, he describes the tongue as “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).

A Restless Evil, Full of Deadly Poison

When read within this lengthy discourse on the tongue, it’s easy to pass over this phrase. However, we need to slow down and think deeply about what James is saying. Every day, within our very mouths, we carry something that God describes as a “restless evil” and a “deadly poison.” Recognizing this reality ought to make us quicker to hear and slower to speak (James 1:19). It should also make us more aware of the immense weight our words carry every time we open our mouths.

In the broader context of his letter, James is making something very clear: genuine faith produces real, tangible works. Without works, our mere claims of faith are dead and useless (James 2:14-26). If we are people of genuine faith, our tongues shouldn’t spew hypocrisy—offering blessings to God while hurling curses at men. Our tongues drive the course of our entire lives, and our words have the ability to stain our whole bodies and set our lives on fire with the very fires of hell (James 3:6).

This is terrifying news apart from Christ. The unbeliever lacks the ability to tame their tongue at all. In fact, James crushes our self-improvement instincts when he says, “no human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:8).

Read More