From Deadly Poison to Life-Giving Antidote
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). Without the Lord’s help, nobody can put any sin to death—especially the sins of the tongue. Apart from Christ, we cannot persist in speaking the truth to our neighbors, avoid using angry words, put away corrupting talk, or build people up with our speech (Eph. 4:25-32). Without a new, Spirit-filled heart, we cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit in our speech; we will only bear the thorns of the world.
Full of the Spirit, An Antidote
With such evocative language about the tongue, we may be left wondering: is there any hope for us? Should we just abandon the effort of trying to use our tongues for good? The answer, to borrow from the apostle Paul, is “by no means!” No mere human can tame the tongue by their own strength, but we trust in the Savior who “opened not his mouth” when he was suffering to bring us salvation (Isa. 53:7). We believe in Jesus who “made no further answer” when the chief priests dishonestly and unjustly accused him (Mk. 15:3-5). He is more than just our example; he is at work within us through His Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures are full of exhortations on how to use our words to glorify God. Volumes of books could be written on the subject and we still wouldn’t scratch the surface of all that could be said regarding the matter of the tongue. In Christ, we can tame our tongues, though we do so imperfectly in this life. We will sometimes come up short and need to repent, yet it’s worth pursuing Christlike speech nonetheless. Here are a few suggestions on where to start. Perhaps the Spirit will lead you to study and meditate further on our ever-present need to tame the tongue.
Guard your words (Prov. 13:3). The Puritans wrote and preached often about the spiritual discipline and responsibility of watchfulness. In Of Temptation, John Owen defines watchfulness as, “A universal carefulness and diligence… over our hearts and ways…” Watchfulness is especially necessary for our words in an age when we speak as many as 20,000 words per day! If we are willing to take the Scriptures seriously, we should consider it our Christ-centered duty to guard our words, especially when we are facing intense emotions like anger.
Focus on edification (Eph. 4:29). Something that always helps me control my tongue is entering conversations with the specific aim to build others up. If our goal is to edify the person we are talking to—or even the person we are talking about—we will do less cursing and more blessing. We should pray more often for "salt" to season our speech and make it suitable for the occasion. When grace becomes the intent of our words, we use our speech to bless people rather than break them.
Limit how often you speak (Prov. 10:19). 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.
Just as venomous, toxic substances can cause fatal harm or bring real healing, our tongues can either be full of deadly poison or carry the antidote that the world needs. When we take the Great Commission seriously and walk into every situation looking for a way to season the conversation with the salt of the gospel, we can use our tongues as a God-given antidote.