The chapter opens up with a banger that goes as follows…
James 3:1
💡 ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ ከእናንተ ብዙዎች አስተማሪዎች አይሁኑ፤ ምክንያቱም እኛ አስተማሪዎች የሆንን የባሰ ፍርድ እንደምንቀበል ታውቃላችሁ።
💡 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
Teachers have a profound impact on the spiritual lives of their students and so James warns that teaching others the words of God shouldn’t be taken lightly and must be exercises with great care and caution in their teaching and conduct. These teachers will face a stricter judgment because they are entrusted with the spiritual well-being of others.
Teaching is not to be pursued for personal glory or influence but should be driven by a genuine desire to share the truth and nurture the spiritual growth of others.
Then the chapter talks about what it takes to be a perfect man which is to tame the tongue. James shows that a person who has control over his speech is mature and more disciplined than most and is capable of also controlling other aspects of his body.
James 3:2
💡 ሁላችንም በብዙ ነገር እንሰናከላለን፤ በንግግሩ የማይሰናከል ማንም ሰው ቢኖር፣ እርሱ ሰውነቱን ሁሉ መቈጣጠር የሚችል ፍጹም ሰው ነው።
💡 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
James then proceeds to paint picture of how small things could have massive consequences. (bits into the horses’ mouths gets it controlled, small rudder in ships to steer them and controlling the tongue of the body to control the body.)
He also goes to show how destructive an untamed tongue can be …
James 3:6
💡 ምላስም እንደ እሳት ናት፤ በሰውነት ክፍሎቻችን መካከል የምትገኝ የክፋት ዓለም ናት፤ ሰውነትን ሁሉ ታረክሳለች፤ ደግሞም የፍጥረትን ሩጫ ታቃጥላለች፤ ራሷም በገሃነም ትቃጠላለች።
💡 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
Here James doesn’t say that some words burn and others don’t. He says the tongue is fire and so everything that comes out of fire is fiery.
James’ lessons about taming the words we speak is echoed out in the Bible as follows:
Psalms 141:3
💡 እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ለአፌ ጠባቂ አድርግ፤ የከንፈሮቼንም መዝጊያ ጠብቅ።
💡 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Proverbs 18:21
💡 አንደበት የሞትና የሕይወት ኀይል አላት፤ የሚወድዷትም ፍሬዋን ይበላሉ።
💡 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 14:3
💡 የተላላ ሰው ንግግር ለጀርባው በትር ታስከትልበታለች፤ የጥበበኛ ከንፈር ግን ትጠብቃቸዋለች።
💡 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.
Proverbs 10:20
💡 የጻድቅ አንደበት የነጠረ ብር ነው፤ የክፉ ሰው ልብ ግን ርባና የለውም። የጻድቃን ከንፈሮች ብዙዎችን ያንጻሉ፤ ተላሎች ግን ከማመዛዘን ጕድለት ይሞታሉ።
💡 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.
After James says that a person who controls his speech is a perfect man, he says that no human effort is efficient to control it.
James 3:8
💡 ነገር ግን ምላስን መግራት የሚችል ማንም ሰው የለም፤ የሚገድል መርዝ የሞላባትና ዕረፍት የሌላት ክፉ ነገር ናት።
💡 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
So far here’s how uncontrolled speech is portrayed
Then James teaches something profound here. He first showed the double-mindedness of the tongue, that this fire within us can burn away the filth or the gold. He then shows us something important. He asks whether a fig tree can produce olives. He’s pointing out to the fundamental fact that “Your core’s identity will determine the kind of fire that will abide in your organs.”
James 3:10-12
💡 ከአንድ አፍ በረከትና መርገም ይወጣል። ወንድሞቼ ሆይ ይህ ሊሆን አይገባም። ከአንድ ምንጭ ጣፋጭ ውሃና መራራ ውሃ ይመነጫልን? ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ በለስ ወይራን ወይንም በለስን ሊያፈራ ይችላልን? እንዲሁም ከጨው ውሃ ጣፋጭ ውሃ ሊገኝ አይችልም።
💡 From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
So in this section, James echoes Jesus’s teaching of how a person’s heart determines the person’s words. A person speaks out of the abundance of his heart.
Matthew 12:34-37
💡 እናንት የእፉኝት ልጆች፤ እናንተ ክፉዎች ስትሆኑ መልካም ነገር መናገር እንዴት ትችላላችሁ? በልብ ውስጥ የሞላውን አንደበት ይናገረዋልና። መልካም ሰው በልቡ ካከማቸው መልካም ነገር በጎ ነገር ያወጣል፤ ክፉ ሰውም በልቡ ካከማቸው ክፉ ነገር መጥፎ ነገር ያወጣል። ነገር ግን እላችኋለሁ፤ ሰዎች ስለ ተናገሩት ከንቱ ቃል ሁሉ በፍርድ ቀን ይጠየቁበታል። ምክንያቱም ከቃልህ የተነሣ ትጸድቃለህ፤ ከቃልህም የተነሣ ይፈረድብሃልና።
💡 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
So if you want to tame your tongue, fill your heart with good content.
A good heart then produces good speech, while an evil heart produces evil speech.
James tells us that people demonstrate wisdom if their deeds reflect God’s commands. Wisdom is reflected in not only in what you say but in what you do.
James 3:13
💡 ከእናንተ መካከል ጥበበኛና አስተዋይ የሆነ ሰው ማን ነው? ሥራውን ከጥበብ በሆነ በመልካም አኗኗር ያሳይ።
💡 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
Here James teaches us of the two kinds of wisdom. One from God and the other from the devil. True wisdom vs false wisdom could be an alternate title to this section.
James 3:14-17
💡 ነገር ግን መራራ ቅናትና ራስ ወዳድነት በልባችሁ ቢኖር ኵራት አይሰማችሁ፤ እውነትንም አትካዱ። እንዲህ ያለችዋ ጥበብ ከላይ አይደለችም፤ ነገር ግን ከምድር፣ ከሥጋና ከአጋንንት ናት። ቅናትና ራስ ወዳድነት ባሉበት ስፍራ በዚያ ሁከትና ክፉ ሥራ ሁሉ ይገኛሉ። ከሰማይ የሆነችው ጥበብ ግን በመጀመሪያ ንጽሕት ናት፤ በኋላም ሰላም ወዳድ፣ ታጋሽ፣ እሺ ባይ፣ ምሕረትና መልካም ፍሬ የሞላባት፣ አድልዎና ግብዝነት የሌለባት ናት።
💡 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
This kind of wisdom is portrayed very dark and destructively. The false wisdom that comes from the world and the devil only causes bitter jealousy and produces selfish ambitions in our hearts. And in a heart where bitter jealousy and selfish ambitions exists, there exists disorder and every other evil thing.
So when following this demonic wisdom not only are you allowing for mere jealousy and selfish tendencies, you’re opening up the gates to complete disorder and every other kind of evil to enter your heart.
It’s a simple fact to know that utterly jealous people often cause extraordinary destruction and chaos to others and themselves.
Here, this kind of wisdom is as follows:
As you go through this list of attributes given to wisdom you can paint a small picture of who God is. It’s almost as if these attributes can be swapped out to describe God himself. Almost to say that wisdom is God.
It also goes to show that these attributes of the heavenly wisdom oppose the fundamentals of the demonic wisdom. They’re predominantly selfless instead of selfish and loving than aggressive jealousy. So this kind of wisdom doesn’t cause chaos, it brings order and it cleanses.
When people make choices that are good and fair (righteousness) and they do this in a peaceful way, like solving problems without fighting, it leads to good results. Those who work to bring peace and do what's right are like farmers who plant seeds of goodness, and they will eventually see a positive harvest in their lives and in the world around them.
James 3:18
💡 የጽድቅም ፍሬ ሰላምን ለሚያደርጉ በሰላም ይዘራል።
💡 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Peace here acts as an environment where righteous actions and behaviors are nurtured and cultivated.
If people do good in a peaceful way, it produces good results.
This metaphor emphasizes the positive outcomes and results that come from living in accordance with godly wisdom. When individuals possess wisdom from above, it leads to actions and behaviors that are characterized by righteousness, justice, and moral uprightness.
So based on what I understand so far, here’s what I’ve gotten:
So everyone of us possess a kind of fire within our mouth, which is our tongue - which is our ability to talk. This fire of ours is little yet can cause massive consequences. Just like how people can light a match to burn a house down, people can use their words to destroy and hurt people. But also just like how fire is used to light up the night and stay warm during camping, people can use their words to comfort and light up people’s lives.
Whether you’re just talking to a friend or a stranger Or whether you’re a teacher teaching people the ways of God; Huge caution and a great deal of wisdom is required from you to use this fire of yours well. And as the saying goes, “you can’t play with fire and not expect to get burnt” So a person who can speak is doomed to burn himself and others.
This fire of ours although destructive can be controlled and be used well. For example, there are matches in some match boxes in the world that are all spent for good. Each and every stick burns well, but burns for the right purpose and not cause destruction. AND it’s exactly like that how we should behave. Trying to make every burning word burn for good consequences.
Our speech is an external reflection of our hearts within. Almost as if to say “Show me the words of a man, and I will show you what his heart is filled of.” And so good hearts allow the person to change the identity of the fire within their mouth.
Finally, no man can be perfect without wisdom. And so a man should pursue wisdom to control his tongue, to teach well and to live his life in the most fruitful of ways. And so James shows us the kind of wisdom this world offers us, how full of greed and bitterness it is. He also shows us the kind of wisdom God offers us, how peacefully gentle and righteously fruitful it is. And it only by choosing this heavenly wisdom that we can become closer to perfection.
DO GOOD PEACEFULLY!
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY!