A creative mother was trying to ingrain a timeless lesson in her son on the first day of school. She gave a tube of toothpaste to the son and asked him to empty it in a bowl. He swiftly obeyed the instruction. Next, the mother asked him to put the paste back into the tube, and the son replied that it was impossible. His response provided the mother with the opportunity to drive home the lesson. She told him words are like paste in the tube; once you spill them out, there is no way you can gather them in again. On the balance of scale, fewer people regret not speaking than those who spoke out. Something about the words you speak is that it can be quoted and misquoted, as the case may be. Nobody can quote silence!

“Anyone who speaks faster than hearing will have enough trouble to contend with…A voluble person is likely going to fall into the danger of exaggeration, which is a sin. Then we learn that uncontrolled speech is a sign of folly.”

Does this mean we should be silent all the time and never speak? That is not what the Bible teaches; the advice is that we should measure our speech. I understand that a rule of thumb in carpentry is to measure twice and cut once. I think that idea should translate to how we hear and speak. We should hear twice before we speak once. That is also buttressed by the fact that God gave us two sets of ear and only one mouth. Anyone who speaks faster than hearing will have enough trouble to contend with. Several things should keep us on the side of caution; two of them are in Proverbs 10:19 alone – “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” A voluble person is likely going to fall into the danger of exaggeration, which is a sin. Then we learn that uncontrolled speech is a sign of folly. Finally, our text shows the danger of words said in anger. They diminish our ability to walk in the righteousness of God.