On March 15 this year, a man whom I had been privileged to supervise during his onboarding into pastoral ministry came to pay me a courtesy visit. He recalled several things that transpired, including when I tasked him to read the Book of Proverbs within two days and pay particular attention to what it says about the use of the tongue. I laughed when he recalled that. The point was that the man was sincere but verbose. My recommendation was based on my daily practice at the time – reading five chapters of Psalms and one from Proverbs. Through this, I saw that failing to control the tongue inevitably leads to trouble.

…failing to control the tongue inevitably leads to trouble…Decades of effort can be destroyed in a single moment of careless words. This is why we need divine assistance so that God might set a guard over our mouths.

Scripture always depicts a fool in a negative light. However, there are two instances where some people are ranked even lower than a fool. Proverbs 26:12 states that a fool has brighter chance of success than a self-conceited person. Then in Proverbs 29:20, a person who is hasty with words is considered worse than a fool. In his writing, James noted that humans have been able to tame all kinds of beasts, including the most vociferous in the animal kingdom. However, no man can control the tongue. He describes the tongue as an unruly evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:8). The tongue is compared to a little spark that can ruin an entire forest. Decades of effort can be destroyed in a single moment of careless words. This is why we need divine assistance so that God might set a guard over our mouths.