A while back, I offended someone very close to me. I fell victim to saying something I wished I hadn’t. I said the wrong thing at the worst possible time. The real problem was that I didn’t think before I spoke. I speedily apologized to this person and sorted out the mess that my words had gotten me into.
Do the words you speak have a direct impact on the lives of others? Read James 3:2-10. These scriptures trumpet a resounding YES! James tells us that the tongue is “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Man can tame the beasts of the field but cannot tame his tongue. All it takes is one or two ill-placed words, and you have offended someone, started a rumor, gossiped or criticized, and eroded a portion of your character. You and I really need to be aware of just how serious this problem is. The bridling of our tongue takes effort—a conscious, daily, minute-by-minute effort—to think before we speak.
