He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin. – Proverbs 13:3
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs. Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. – James 3:5-12
We all need to be careful what we say. Once we speak, we cannot take our words back. The old saying ‘sticks and stones may break my back but words will never hurt me” is so not true. Words do hurt and the damage they can do can last a lifetime. Words are very powerful and can affect our entire lives. Being hurtful, disrespectful and mean is not ideal, even when we are angry and have a right to be. We must learn to control our mouths so that we do not release via our lips every thought that comes into our brains. We must put our brains in gear before we set our mouths in motion. Speaking irresponsibly and without caution can bring pain and cause heartbreak to others.
Rather than hurt and alienate people with our words, we can make a conscious decision to love, inspire, praise, commend and bring joy to others. We must decide to build one another up rather than tear each other down. I have met people who have what you can call a ‘critical spirit’ – they criticize everyone and everything around them. They spend their lives being pessimistic about every single opportunity and circumstance. They bring a negative aura with them wherever they go. It is no surprise that no one wants to be around them. The Bible tells us that we cannot curse and disrespect another one minute and then start to praise God the next. How can we have such negativity and evil residing in the same heart that claims to demonstrate the love of God? We have to decide what we want to be. We all must choose whether we want to be a builder of the body of Christ or a destroyer who brings in strife and discord.
For those of us who are married with children or with children and/or married, we must be extremely cautious. We must be vigilant about what is coming out of our mouths where our spouses are concerned. The wrong words can destroy a good relationship. With our children, we are writing on the slate of who they are on a daily basis – cursing them is just a really bad idea regardless of what they might have done.
Let’s not be critical of others. Let us choose our words carefully as we communicate with others.
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