Controlling the Things We Say

3 My brothers, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more strictly than others. ² We all make many mistakes. If there were a person who never said anything wrong, he would be perfect. He would be able to control his whole body, too. ³ We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. We can control their whole bodies. ⁴ It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. The man who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. The ship goes where the man wants. ⁵ It is the same with the tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it brags about doing great things.

A big forest fire can be started with only a little flame. ⁶ And the tongue is like a fire. It is a whole world of evil among the parts of our bodies. The tongue spreads its evil through the whole body. It starts a fire that influences all of life. The tongue gets this fire from hell. ⁷ People can tame every kind of wild animal, bird, reptile, and fish, and they have tamed them. ⁸ But no one can tame the tongue. It is wild and evil. It is full of poison that can kill. ⁹ We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people. And God made them like himself. ¹⁰ Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers, this should not happen. ¹¹ Do good and bad water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers, can a fig tree make olives? Can a grapevine make figs? No! And a well full of salty water cannot give good water.

True Wisdom

¹³ Is there anyone among you who is truly wise and understanding? Then he should show his wisdom by living right. He should do good things without being proud. A wise person does not brag. ¹⁴ But if you are selfish and have bitter jealousy in your hearts, you have no reason to brag. Your bragging is a lie that hides the truth. ¹⁵ That kind of “wisdom” does not come from God. That “wisdom” comes from the world. It is not spiritual. It is from the devil. ¹⁶ Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there will be confusion and every kind of evil. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. Then it is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest. ¹⁸ When people work for peace in a peaceful way, they receive the good result of their right living.

Give Yourselves to God

4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. ² You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God. ³ Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things only so that you can use them for your own pleasures.

⁴ So, you people are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. So if a person wants to be a friend of the world, he makes himself God’s enemy. ⁵ Do you think the Scripture means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone.”^{[a] 6} But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says,

⁷ So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. ⁹ Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. ¹⁰ Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will honor you.

You Are Not the Judge

¹¹ Brothers, do not say bad things about each other. If you say bad things about your brother in Christ or judge him, then you are saying bad things about the law he follows. You are also judging the law he follows. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge! ¹² God is the only One who makes laws, and he is the only Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.

Let God Plan Your Life

¹³ Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” ¹⁴ But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. ¹⁵ So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you are proud and you brag. All of this bragging is wrong. ¹⁷ And when a person knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, then he is sinning.