The tongue can no man tame (James 3). We can say that that means that we have to submit total control over our heart to God so he can control it. While technically correct, that's hard to comprehend on a practice level; how would I do that?, one may reasonably ask. (It's not helpful to suggest to a drowning man that he try treading water.)
There's a more basic reality in play that this passage and others (particularly in Proverbs) sheds light on: The tongue inevitably exposes what's in the mind. Look at Matthew 12:34, for instance:
O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." Matthew 12:34-36
Words are important. The lesson here is: No matter how hard you try to do otherwise, eventually your tongue will make known to those around you what's really in your heart. The tongue will always do this; no man can prevent his tongue from expressing what's on his mind. Don't waste your time or effort trying to hold back your tongue while you secretly entertain evil thoughts; it won't work. If you want to stop speaking evil, stop thinking evil. James 3 drives straight to that very point.
He who controls the rudder controls the ship. Even so, to control the tongue is to control the whole body. After all, nothing reaches the tongue without first going through the brain; so indeed, to gain control over your tongue forces you to gain control over your thoughts.
As James 3:2 points out, if a man doesn't offend with his tongue, he doesn't offend even within his own thoughts, either. The two go hand in hand.
Look at James 1:26, also: The man that pretends to be religious has to lie to himself before he can go and use his tongue to lie to someone else.
No fountain produces both sweet and bitter water (drinkable and undrinkable). If you're using the same mouth to bless one person and curse another, one or the other is an insincere lie - and I bet I can guess which one it is. Your mouth is going to betray what kind of heart you really have, what your outlook on life and people really is.
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On another, kind of related subject... the word "dominion" comes from the same root as "dominate." It means to have total control over something. So it is with men and animals: men are simply superior to animals in every way, and so have total control (domination) over them. There isn't (nor has there ever been) a creature on earth that man can't tame with enough effort or that man couldn't wipe off the planet if he collectively so chose.
We men should understand that animals' relationship to us in this regard is the same as our relationship to God.
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Because of sin man lost dominion over his own tongue, we might say. But because of Christ's sacrifice, he can get it back! Once again we note that taming your tongue is inseparable from taming your body and mind. The worldly man, controlled by the lusts of the flesh, has no chance at that. We need the Holy Spirit's power to really gain control of ourselves.
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From whence come wars and fightings among you? Do they not come from here, even of your lusts that war in your members? James 4:1The source of all war, really the source of all human conflict on whatever scale, is lust. Human lust is never really fulfilled, not really fulfillable; whatever you lust for--and we all lust for something--you're going to want more and more and more of it, no matter how much you obtain.
You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4
He who wants to be God's friend and the world's friend is not only deceiving himself and others, he is an adulterer--the ultimate of all types of liars and deceivers, really. Men don't like it, but the Book leaves no gray area about this; if you're the world's friend, you're God's enemy. Period. Much of the book of I John expounds this same theme.
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