Pointedly, the Apostle James said, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity" and, among other biting remarks, that it is "set on fire by hell" (James 3).
As kids we sang, "O, Be careful little mouth what you say...for the Father up above is looking down in love, O, be careful little mouth what you say." Adults should learn it anew.
The Bible warns often about the dangers of a tongue dangerously misused:
Proverbs 26:22 says this: "The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body."
A paraphrase expresses it this way: "Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?" (MSG, an interpretive paraphrase)
A discerning head usher in one of my pastorates (when people would try to pass gossip on to him) would take hold of one of his ears and say, "Does this look like a garbage pail?")
An abrupt rebuke like that can certainly put an end to abusive talk. Try it, unless you like "cheap candy."
J. Sidlow Baxter once remarked, "One of the first things that happens when a man is truly filled with the Spirit is not that he speaks with tongues, but that he learns to hold the one tongue he already has."
Good observation!
- dick christen
