Day 56 - illustrations of the tongue

Extreme Faith Workout
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Why should we hesitate before becoming teachers?
Well, especially being teachers of God's Word ought to give us pause because there is a greater accountability, judgment for those who do it. Jesus was very condemning of the religious teachers in His day because they were hypocrites, teaching one thing and doing another. To teach the Word of God is to be responsible to communicate the truth that the Holy Spirit uses to change people's lives.

How does James, in James 3:1-12, use the following 6 word pictures to talk about the power and importance of the tongue?

• The Bit - Like a small bit in the mouth of the horse can control its entire body (1,000 lbs. or more), so our small tongue can control all areas of our body
• The rudder - Like a small rudder (in comparison to the entire ship) can control the whole vessel, so the tongue can control the whole body
• Fire - Like a small spark in a forest can eventually devour the entire forest, so our small tongue can destroy people's reputations and lives
• A poisonous animal - like a caged animal ready to devour and a poisonous snake ready to strike so our tongue has that kind of fast striking, deadly power
• A fountain - like a fountain that gives out only one kind of water (hopefully fresh), so the tongue must give out one kind of talk (God honoring)
• A fig tree - like a fig tree that produces figs, so our tongue (being from a Christ follower) must produce talk that sounds like a Christ follower