James 1:26
1:26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile.
James 3:2-8
3:2 For we all stumble
in many ways. If someone does not stumble
in what he says,
he is a perfect individual,
able to control the entire body as well.
3:3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.
3:4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs.
3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body,
yet it has great pretensions.
Think
how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.
3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents
the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It
pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell.
3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind.
3:8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.