What does First B Jackson teach about taming the tongue?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on taming the tongue starts with a clear diagnosis: the problem is not the mouth itself but the heart behind it. Several teachers have come back to Jesus's words in Luke 6, that what flows out of a person reveals what has been deposited inside. That means no amount of willpower or self-editing gets to the root. Brad Yates made this concrete with a plumbing image: no filter turns salt water into fresh water. If the source is wrong, the output will be wrong, and what is needed is not better filters but a new source.
Pastor Carl built his message on the same diagnosis but pressed it toward the resurrection. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the Spirit living in believers now, and that is the only adequate power for something as ordinary and difficult as what we say. James's images of the bit, the rudder, and the spark are meant to show that the tongue is genuinely powerful in both directions. It can be a wildfire that ruins a reputation and never lets it recover, or it can be, as Proverbs puts it, a life-giving fountain to everyone who hears it. The choice of direction is not made in the moment of speaking; it is made in what a person has been feeding the heart all along.
The teachers here have also been honest that this is personal territory, not abstract theology. Steve Landis spoke from his own conviction, describing how a long season of negative speech had crept in before he recognized it. Brad named the same thing: a quick tongue that served him well in public settings was doing real damage at home, and he had been white-knuckling his way around the command rather than surrendering that part of his life to God. Pastor Nathan, working through Ephesians 4, pointed out that Paul pairs truth and love together on purpose, because some people use love as an excuse to avoid hard truth, and others have plenty of truth but very little love, and the community needs both from each person. The rationale Paul gives for all of it is that we belong to one another, which means what I say to you, and what you say to me, is not a private matter.
Taught from James 3:1-12 · Ephesians 4:25-5:2 · James 1:19-20 · Luke 6:45 · Proverbs 10:11
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- May 10, 2026 Put Away Falsehood, Speak the Truth in Love Ephesians 4-5 examined: put away falsehood, anger, theft and corrupt speech, and walk in love as imitators of God, just as Christ gave himself for us.
- November 3, 2024 Nov 3rd Service with Guest Speaker Brad Yates Brad walks through James 1:19-20, showing why being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger is a command of the heart, not just good advice.
- April 19, 2022 A Life Giving Fountain James 3 on taming the tongue: Pastor Carl shows how what fills our hearts shapes our words, and why resurrection power is what actually changes us.
- January 23, 2022 Your Words Have the Power of Life and Death Steve Landis opens with conviction about the power of words, then walks through why surrendering to repentance and transformation matters for every believer.
- January 23, 2022 Words Have Power of Life and Death Steve Landis opens Scripture on the power of words, the call to holiness, and why God's grace, not guilt, is what truly motivates us to change.
Mentioned along the way
- February 7, 2024 Women's Bible Study - February 7th, 2024 - James 3 Deborah walks through James 3 on the power of the tongue, exploring how our words shape our lives and how guarding the heart leads to wisdom and peace.