“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:8-12).
Consistency is the steadfast adherence to the same principles and course of action over a period of time. It is the ongoing pursuit of every athlete—physical and spiritual—seeking excellence. Oh, how difficult consistency is to attain and how easily it can slip away!
A besetting and timeless truth about human nature is that we are inconsistent. Today we are focused on spiritual things. Tomorrow that focus can be gone by sunrise.
Being consistent in the use of your tongue is an ongoing, daily spiritual challenge. God’s word on this matter cannot be clearer: an inconsistent tongue—one which blesses God one moment and curses humans made in God’s likeness the next—ought not to be.
An inconsistent Christian is comparable to going to a spring of water and getting bitter water today after getting fresh from it yesterday. It is like a fig tree which produces olives this year and figs next year. It ought not to be.
Striving for the excellence of consistency in your life and speech is not a Scriptural suggestion; it is a divine expectation. Anything else ought not to be.
