Sit in a Burned-Out Forest

James 3:3-6 says:

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. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

From the book Intimate Allies, the authors say this in reference to the passage above.

The metaphors James uses give simple, yet horribly difficult advice. In a word, he says "Stop it." We need to treat our tongue as a runaway horse or a rudderless ship: We need to rein in the horse or put a rudder in the ship.

James does not give us any techniques by which to stop our tongues. Instead, he asks us to develop a sense of horror over the damage that we do. He asks us to sit in a burned-out forest, seeing the death and destruction that one small match can bring and see that same destructive power in the words we use. Coming face-to-face with that destruction leaves us in a position either to struggle to heal or to join the Author of Chaos.