EPISODE 0244 | The Power of Your Words: James 3 with Pastor Whit George
THESE NOTES ACCOMPANY EPISODE 0244
In this message, guest speaker Pastor Whit George unpacks the surprising centrality of our words in the process of becoming more like Christ. Drawing from James 3, Pastor Whit shows that spiritual maturity isn’t just about how much we know—it’s about how well we control our tongue. With humor, clarity, and a deep love for the local church, he challenges us to examine the way we speak to our spouses, our coworkers, our kids—and even strangers in traffic.
Main Topics Covered:
Why James places the tongue at the center of discipleship
The connection between our words and our spiritual growth
How small words lead to big consequences
Why careless speech can unravel families, friendships, and churches
Common Christian excuses for sinful speech (e.g. “I’m just blunt”)
What it means to unite your heart to fear the Lord
Key Scriptures:
James 3:1–12 – The tongue is a small member, but it boasts of great things
Psalm 141:3 – Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth
Proverbs 18:21 – Death and life are in the power of the tongue
Ecclesiastes 5:2 – Let your words be few
Ephesians 4:29 – Only speak what builds up and gives grace to the hearer
Matthew 12:36–37 – We’ll give account for every careless word
Luke 6:45 – Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks
Key Takeaways:
Your words reveal your maturity. You can’t claim to be spiritually mature if you don’t control your tongue.
The tongue is a steering wheel. If you can’t manage what you say, you won’t be able to manage where your life goes.
Words can be weapons. We often do the most damage to the people we claim to love the most.
Excuses don’t sanctify sin. “That’s just how I was raised” doesn’t work in the Kingdom of God.
Spiritual growth means taming the wild animal in your mouth.
Real change starts with repentance. What comes out of your mouth is a reflection of what’s still undealt with in your heart.
Resources
The Better Planner™ is a personal planner designed by Pastor Stephen to help you map out all the different aspects of success and personal growth on your way to better.
The foundation of the Better Planner™ is the practice of defining and reaching your personal vision. The other principles for growth all integrate with and flow out of this essential step. As you develop and record the insights you receive from God and His design for your life, the Better Planner™ will lead you through a step-by-step process to become better.
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