A Tongue Set on Fire
"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity… and it is set on fire by hell." — James 3:6
The Most Alarming Passage About Speech
"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:6–10)
Read that slowly. James says the tongue is set on fire by hell. He says no man can tame it. He says the same mouth blesses God and curses people made in His image — and that this ought not to be.
An enormous amount of evil is transmitted through spoken words. Far more than we imagine.
Words Spoken Over Children
The most damaging application of this is inside our own homes.
You're worthless. You'll never amount to anything. You're just like your father. I wish you'd never been born. You always ruin everything. You're stupid. Nobody will ever want you.
Those sentences are spoken in ordinary houses by exhausted, frustrated parents who love their children. They are not usually intended as curses. They function as them anyway — and they are absorbed by a child who has no capacity to reject them and every reason to believe them.
Many adults are still living inside sentences said to them at seven years old.
Words Spoken Over Ourselves
The same mechanism operates internally.
I'm useless. I'll never change. I'm always going to be like this. I can't do anything right. I'd be better off dead.
Agreement is the mechanism by which most things gain ground. A person who repeatedly declares their own hopelessness is agreeing with something, and agreement grants standing.
When Someone Says It To You
If someone says to you, "I wish you were dead" — break that curse immediately in the name of Jesus.
Such a statement opens a door for spirits to attempt to bring it about. It does not matter that the speaker was angry and did not mean it. It was spoken.
Do not accept it. Do not absorb it. Do not carry it home and turn it over for the next thirty years.
Be careful about what you say. And be quick to break what is said to you.
Point to Ponder
Many adults are still living inside a sentence said to them when they were seven.
Verse to Remember
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." — Proverbs 18:21
Question to Consider
What sentence has been spoken over me that I have believed my whole life?
Today's Practice
Three parts today. Do all three.
First, what was spoken over you. Write down the damaging sentences spoken over you — by parents, teachers, spouses, employers, anyone. The ones you still hear in your own head.
For each: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I break the power of these words spoken over me. I renounce every agreement I have made with them. I command every spirit that entered through them to leave me now." Then replace each one with what God says about you, from Scripture.
Second, what you have spoken over others. Write those down too. Confess each as sin, break the curse in Jesus' name, and — where it is possible and wise — go and apologize to the person. Specifically, without excusing yourself.
Third, what you speak over yourself. Notice your self-talk today. Every time you catch a hopeless declaration, stop and say the opposite out loud from Scripture.
Prayer
Father, my tongue has done damage I cannot measure. I have spoken words over my children, my spouse, and myself that should never have been said.
Forgive me. Cleanse me by the blood of Jesus Christ. Break every curse I have sent through my own mouth, and undo the harm it has caused in the people I love.
And Lord, break the power of every word ever spoken over me. I renounce every agreement I made with them as a child, when I did not know I could refuse. They are not my identity and they are not my future.
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord. Let what comes out of it give life. Let the same mouth that blesses You stop cursing those You made in Your image.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
The same mouth blesses God and curses people made in His image. These things ought not to be so.