Lesson 12: Directed Faith
James 3:1-5 
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

We come now to one of the most difficult chapters in the Bible. It is not difficult to understand, but difficult to do! The issue is controlling what we say.

 There are two main reasons most of us cannot control our speech: 1) because we are at heart selfish, and 2) we have a wrong idea about who God truly is.

 When we talk with others from our selfish heart, we say things we would never say if we first thought about what was loving and true to say to them. Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love. What does that mean? If we see someone with, for example, a smudge on their face before they’re going to meet someone important, the loving thing to do is tell them. To say, sharply, “Your face is dirty” is the truth, but it is not necessarily loving. In 1 Corinthians 13 we read that love “covers” errors. In this case, to draw them aside and quietly tell them they want to check their face, or even hand them a tissue and motion to where they will want to wipe it off their face is both true and loving.


 When we talk with God from a wrong idea of who He is, we often say the wrong things. We want to believe God is there to help us in the things we want to do, or help us live a good life here on earth. We even point to the Bible to say these are His promises to us, therefore we have the right to ask them of Him. But God is not truly God if all He is there for is to help us live life the way we want. A paper I read recently says such a god is nothing but a graven image, an idol. Creator-God is God who has a plan for everything He made, and it is His plan that must be carried out. Read Isaiah 46, remembering that the references to cattle in the opening verses is a reference to wealth of any kind. We need to obey Him because we love Him, not just because we want things from Him or even because we want to understand Him. We cannot “grow in grace and in knowledge of Him” (2 Peter 3:18) unless we are willing to learn and accept things from Him we cannot understand.

Directed faith means our faith is focused on God no matter what happens around us. It is only in this way we can learn to control what we say.

Memorize: Isaiah 46:9-10 - remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose.’