Brother Jim Shaw Ministries with Brother Jim Shaw
Ep189, Watch Your Tongue
Words Under Watch: Choosing Mercy, Discipline, and a Renewed Heart
Summary
The Tongue as an Unruly Evil
Brother Jim Shaw opens with James 3:8 and its description of the tongue as an unruly evil filled with deadly poison. He emphasizes the passage's assertion that no person can tame the tongue through human effort alone. The sermon presents speech as capable of spreading harm and exposing humanity's helplessness without divine intervention. Brother Jim also points to the contradiction of blessing God and cursing people with the same tongue. He describes this inconsistency as a form of double-mindedness that believers must confront.
Renewing the Heart and Mind
The episode teaches that control of speech begins with the saving work of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Brother Jim says believers must renew their minds with God's Word rather than rely solely on willpower. He describes personal conviction as a fork in the road between fleshly reactions and following the Lord. According to the sermon, a washed heart produces right speech because the mouth expresses what is within the heart. The renewed heart is therefore presented as the source of a tamed and disciplined tongue.
Anger, Companionship, and Harmful Words
Using Proverbs 22:24, Brother Jim warns listeners not to form close friendships with angry or furious people. He argues that anger can be learned, spread through companionship, and become a snare to the soul. The sermon gives special attention to angry words directed toward spouses, children, relatives, and friends. Brother Jim observes that spoken words cannot be taken back and may remain in people's memories for years. He urges parents to be especially watchful about the influences surrounding their children.
Obedience Put Into Practice
Brother Jim contrasts hearing God's Word with actively doing what it teaches. He says repentance is available through God's mercy, but obedience is better because it can prevent sinful conduct and its consequences. Practical obedience includes forgiveness, self-denial, purity, modesty, and restraint when lustful or angry thoughts arise. The episode rejects the idea that church attendance, Bible study, or listening to sermons is sufficient by itself. Faith becomes active when biblical teaching is applied during difficult real-life circumstances.
Mercy, Communion, and Daily Conduct
The sermon asks listeners to show mercy because they themselves have received mercy through the cross. Brother Jim applies the lesson to ordinary encounters with family members, coworkers, strangers, and even spam callers. He describes true communion as consuming the Word of God, the bread of life, and walking with the Lord daily. He also names meekness, temperance, joy, love, and supernatural peace as gifts that should emerge from the Holy Spirit. Daily conduct and speech are presented as evidence of a living relationship with Christ.
Choosing Righteousness at the Fork in the Road
The episode closes by urging listeners to take every thought captive and choose righteousness whenever conviction presents a decision. Brother Jim connects discipleship with discipline and compares the Christian life to enduring hardship as a good soldier. He tells believers not to become prideful because of the number of years they have followed Christ. Instead, he says each person's most recent step and treatment of others reveal the condition of the walk. The final appeal is to continue in discernment, guard the mouth, seek a place in the Lamb's Book of Life, and live as a new creation in Christ.
