LET OUR SPEECH BE GRACIOUS AND UPLIFTING
Friday – March 13, 2026
Video link: https://youtu.be/AA513_1xa9w
Greetings one and all! Welcome to our ongoing Bible Study of the Bible Book of James. You will recall that this book was written by James the Just a child of Joseph and Mary who grew up in the same household with Jesus. He would not denounce Jesus as the Messiah and died a martyrs death. I am moving forward today in this fourth chapter of James and into the topic of judging. Oh oh!
James 4:11-12 (KJV)
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
We have gone from the frying pan to the fire so to speak. I will be delving into the whole judging thing as we go along. First let’s address the idea of not speaking evil or one another. When we do, we are doing the devils work, he (they) are the accusers of the brethren. I don’t know about you, but this is a huge thing for we make judgements automatically and sometimes those conclusions are evil. Even if our brother or sister is doing something clearly evil it is not our place to speak of it. Of course, there are exceptions when you are in a position of authority concerning the person, for example in a position of spiritual authority, a business or a dependent child in your home. Let’s consider the following passage on this topic of not speaking evil of the brethren.
Ephesians 4:29-32 (KJV)
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Corrupt communication would be any speech at variance with what would be pleasing to the Father. When we speak of another is it seen as building up that person or tearing them down in the eyes of the hearer? Does the conversation minister grace or is it gracious? If the person being talked about were overhearing the conversation, how would they feel? Corrupt communication that does not build up and is not gracious concerning another grieves the Holy Spirit. Do we really want to grieve God? Consider the following Scripture.
Romans 14:4 (KJV)
4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
That man, that woman, that preacher, that brother or sister is not our servant, but a servant of the Lord and they are His to judge not ours to judge. There is an aspect of judging that I want to bring into consideration. We are judging all the time concerning nearly all things in life which means we discern between. When we look at one of our brethren and make a judgement as to right or wrong according to Scripture that is not sin. However, if we go a step further and declare a consequence of their words or activities we have gone too far. We do not know the heart of another; we hardly know our own heart. We see this principle in the Romans 14:4 Scripture above.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (KJV)
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Here the Scripture is contrasting the natural man and the spiritual man. The natural, unsaved, man has no basis or ability to judge what is spiritual. Then he goes on to say that the spiritual man is to judge or to discern all things. We distinguish between good and evil, but we do not pronounce a consequence for either.
Matthew 7:1-5 (KJV)
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
The judging the Lord is addressing here is not just discerning between good and evil but pronouncing a sentence or consequence. Lord help me to get my eye off my brother and help me to get the beams out of my own eye.
TAKE HOME:
- Let us not speak evil of one another. Let our speech always be gracious and uplifting to the hearer.
- Let us discern or separate, according to God, good and evil but abstain from pronouncing a consequence.
- Let us ask the Lord to help us get our eyes off the speck in our brothers eye and work on getting the beams from our own eyes.
Lord willing, I will resume right here Monday. Remember, we love you, the Lord loves you, and there is nothing you can do about either one.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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