James 1:26 KJV
[26] “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
Our verse is a simple one to understand. James is teaching us that if our heart is right our speech will be right. What’s on the inside will eventually come out. A man’s religion should be measured both by what we see and what he says. Some are good at talking but their lives are not separated. They talk a good talk but they do not walk a good walk. James will deal with that in our next verse.
On the other hand, we must be careful not to deceive ourselves by seeming to be religious. We can learn the formality of religion and deceive ourselves. We have seen this many times in church. People who appear to be spiritual but they have a long tongue. They love to gossip and spread rumors. These people cannot be trusted because they tell everything they hear and know. They never care about who they hurt or slander as long as they are the first to tell.
These folks can sing, testify, and preach but they will have no effect on the cause of Christ. They have grieved the Holy Spirit, hurt their brother, and ruined their testimony. They will only find redemption by using their tongue to repent and confess before the church.
Most members like this in a church have too much pride to do either. Instead, they go on gossiping and slandering with a religion that is as vain as the service they give to God. This verse should cause us all to take inventory of our words and actions. We must guard our speech and put a bridle on our tongue whenever we are around others. We should not waste our words but use them wisely because one day we will give an account of every single word that has rolled off of our tongue.