Finding Hope
in Faithful Stewardship
Stewardship of the Tongue
James 3:1-12
 Quick Review:
Stewardship = God-given responsibility with
accountability!
Q. What are the 4 Factors in Stewardship?
[Matthew 25]
#1: God Owns Everything, and I Own Nothing.
#2: God Entrusts Me with Everything I Have.
#3: I Am Responsible to Increase What God Has
Given to Me. I May Increase It or
Diminish It.
#4: God Can Call Me into Account at Any Time.
 There is an incredible amount of “intrinsic
power” in the tongue.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the
power of the tongue, and those who love it
will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 28:23 He who rebukes a man will
afterward find more favor than he who
flatters with the tongue.
 Jesus ‘connected’ the tongue to the heart!
Matthew 15:18 But the things that proceed
out of the mouth come from the heart, and
those defile the man.
 Three principles that will help us to be good
stewards of our TONGUE:
#1: Remember that Controlling the Tongue Is a
True Test of One’s Spirituality!
 James 1:26 If anyone thinks himself to be
religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue
but deceives his own heart, this man's religion
is worthless.
 Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good,
and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and
its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being
evil, speak what is good? For the mouth
speaks out of that which fills the heart.
A. Pressure doesn’t MAKE you, it REVEALS you
so that you can then change and grow!
B. Be careful about following those who do not
control their tongues!
C. Let’s ask some questions:
#2: Recognize the Destructive Uses of the
Tongue!
 James 3:9 With it we bless our Lord and
Father; and with it we curse men, who have
been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the
same mouth come both blessing and cursing.
My brethren, these things ought not to be this
way.
A. Gossip
“gossip” =
1) Speaking to someone about an issue of
which they are neither part of the problem
nor a part of the solution!
2) Saying things about someone behind their
back that you would never say to their face
3) Discussing details about a problem with a
person without FIRST going to the person
with whom you had the problem
 Proverbs 18:8 The words of a whisperer
(gossip) are like dainty morsels, and they go
down into the innermost parts of the body.
B. Criticism/Cutting Others Down
James 4:11 Do not speak against one
another, brethren (lit. “do not speak down on
one another). He who speaks against a
brother, or judges his brother, speaks against
the law, and judges the law; but if you judge
the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a
judge of it.
 Quote: There are many sinful reasons why
brothers/sisters in Christ talk down one
another. Revenge over some slight, real or
imagined, may be the motivation of “Christian”
slander. Others imagine that their spirituality
and sensitivity equips them to pull others from
their pedestals and unmask their hypocrisies.
Gideon once righteously cried, “A sword for the
Lord and for Gideon!”, and we may do the
same, but in our case it is too often a sword of
self-righteousness.
C. Complaining (unthankful)
Input: What do we have to be thankful for today?
1 Timothy 6:8 If we have food and covering,
with these we shall be content.
#3: Replace the Destructive Tongue with a
Disciplined Tongue
 James 3:10 from the same mouth come both
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these
things ought not to be this way.
 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
A. Stewardship of proclaiming the Gospel!
 Romans 10:14 How then shall they call upon
Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? 15 And how shall they preach
unless they are sent? Just as it is written,
"HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE
WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD
THINGS!”
 2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of
Christ, be reconciled to God.
 Matthew 9:36 And seeing the multitudes, He
felt compassion for them, because they were
distressed and downcast like sheep without a
shepherd.
B. Stewardship of the power of progressive
sanctification
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of
God, and it has not appeared as yet what we
will be. We know that when He appears, we
will be like Him, because we will see Him just
as He is.
1 Timothy 4:7 . . . discipline yourself for the
purpose of godliness.
C. Stewardship of the ability to comfort
 2 Corinthians 7:5 For even when we came into
Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were
afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears
within. 6 But God, who comforts the
depressed, comforted us by the coming of
Titus; 7 and not only by his coming, but also by
the comfort with which he was comforted in
you, as he reported to us your longing, your
mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced
even more.
D. Stewardship of the ability to worship
Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us
continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to
God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks
to His name.
Conclusion:
1. What do you need to ‘put-off’ regarding your
tongue, and what do you need to ‘put on’ to be
a better steward of your tongue?
2. Here’s what Jesus said about the 4th principle
of stewardship and the tongue:
Matthew 12:36 "But I tell you that every
careless word that people speak, they shall
give an accounting for it in the day of
judgment.”