"Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man."
James opens with a warning every teacher should feel: stricter judgment. Words carry weight. The tongue that teaches shapes souls. And the honest admission: we all stumble. James does not exempt himself. Fénelon's little frailties, permitted for humility — James confirming: we all stumble. The question is not whether. The question is whether we bridle.
The bit turns the horse. The rudder steers the ship. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, set among our members, defiling the whole body.
Three images: the bit, the rudder, the spark. The tongue directs, steers, and destroys. Scougal's fire was the constantly burning flame of love — the lamp before the throne. James names the other fire — the tongue that burns forests. Two fires in the journal. The fire of love to tend. The fire of the tongue to bridle. Guard both.
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless God, and with it we curse men made in the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. These things ought not to be so.
No man can tame the tongue. Not difficult — impossible. For man. Murray's absolute impossibility: with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The tongue is tamed the same way the self is abandoned: by letting the all-powerful hand work. Let — the three-letter word that took years. The taming of the tongue is God's work, not ours.
Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
No spring yields both salt water and fresh.
One spring cannot produce both fresh and bitter. If the tongue blesses and curses from the same mouth, something is wrong at the source — the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). The tongue problem is a heart problem. The spring must be purified — and only God purifies springs.
Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
If you have bitter envy and self-seeking, this wisdom is earthly, sensual, demonic.
Where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
Two wisdoms. The earthly: envy, self-seeking, confusion. Fénelon's self-love — the blind passion — James calls it earthly, sensual, demonic. And the test of true wisdom is not knowledge. It is good conduct done in the meekness of wisdom. Fénelon's mild, amiable, simple, lowly. The wisdom that shows by living, not arguing.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."
Eight qualities of the wisdom from above: pure — Scougal's purity. Peaceable — peace that passes understanding. Gentle — Fénelon's persuasion, not force. Willing to yield — the pliable will, ready according to His pleasure. Full of mercy — the 500 denari soul, forgiven much. Full of good fruits — the good tree. Without partiality — no favorites. Without hypocrisy — the opposite of Fénelon's self-love applauded for not being self-love.
The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Not in argument. Not in strife. In peace. The wisdom from above is the character of the soul that has dwelt long enough in the secret place to be transformed by the One who dwells there. 🙏
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."
James 3:17 · NKJV · Praia de Mira · July 27, 2026 · The portrait of the transformed soulTwo Fires
Scougal's fire of love — the lamp before the throne. James's fire of the tongue — the spark that burns forests. Tend the one. Bridle the other.
No Man Can Tame
The tongue is impossible for man to tame. Murray's impossibility. The taming is God's work — by letting the all-powerful hand work.
Two Wisdoms
Earthly: envy, self-seeking, confusion. From above: pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield. The test is meekness, not knowledge.
Sown in Peace
The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Not in argument. In peace.