The Wildest Beast of All

“People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.” –James 3:7-8

I remember always thinking that it would be really cool to have a lion as a pet. I mean after all, they would really just sleep most of the time. They’re just a big cat. OK, a big, wild cat. Apparently though, some people just don’t think about this, they actually do it. I’m not just talking about the circus either. People have a small farm, so they decide to get a lion. They go out and pet it like a little kitten. It almost always seems to end in the same way, too. The animal either turns and attacks its owner, or it gets loose and causes a great deal of harm. My dad always said, ‘You can take the animal out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the animal.’ If you raise a lion in your back yard, you’d just better expect trouble.

But according to James, the tongue is the wildest beast of all. Of all the things we can tame, the tongue isn’t one of them. I took this verse the wrong way for a while—it almost seems fatalistic. It almost seems like James is saying, “Why even try?” But I don’t think that is doing the Scripture justice. I think what we have to realize is that the tongue is untamable, but what do you do with an animal that is untamable? You put it in a big, secure cage. You don’t let it out. You have very clear boundaries that keep the animal from getting out of control.

Well, it is kind of tough to lock up our tongue and throw away the key. We do have to communicate, after all. But one of the things that they teach people who handle wild animals is to always remember that no matter how much that lion cuddles up to you, that he’s still a lion, and that he could kill you at any time he chooses. He is wild by nature. So, never get complacent around him. In the same way, we must never get complacent with our language. We must constantly be aware of the destructive nature of our tongues. We must always be very cautious with the words that we use.

What kind of reminders can you put in place to remind you about your tongue? Maybe committing a Scripture such as this one to memory would help. Or perhaps there are other subtle reminders throughout the day—a post-it note on the computer monitor or just a word that you remember whenever you feel the need to spout off. Whatever it may be, may you always remember the venomous nature of your tongue.