James 3:9–12

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

James brings up a contradiction that is painfully real. With the same mouth, we bless God and then turn around and wound people made in His image. We can sing, pray, and speak about the Lord, yet still let something sharp, cold, or careless slip out. James says plainly, this ought not so to be.

Then he takes us to the source. A fountain does not send out sweet water and bitter water from the same spring. A fig tree does not bear olives. The issue is deeper than the tongue. The tongue is simply revealing the condition of the heart.

That is why the story of Jericho fits so well. The men of the city told Elisha the city was pleasant, but the water was bad and the land barren. Everything looked fine on the outside, but the spring was poisoned. So Elisha took salt and cast it into the source itself, and the Lord healed the waters. He did not start with the fields. He went straight to the spring. That is what the Lord does with us. He does not merely clean up the mess downstream. He deals with the source.

And then there is Marah, where the waters were bitter until Moses cast a tree into them, and they were made sweet. That tree gives us a picture of the cross. The bitterness in me, the pride, the harshness, the stuff that leaks out through my words, has to be dealt with there.

So put the pictures together. The salt speaks of grace. The tree speaks of the cross. And both show that only the Lord can make bitter water sweet.

Think about that. The answer is not just trying harder to sound nicer. The answer is the Lord healing the spring and applying the cross where bitterness still hides.

That becomes the prayer: Lord, do not just change my speech. Heal my heart. Put the salt of grace into my spring, and let the cross make bitter water sweet, so what comes out of my mouth brings help instead of hurt.