Stubbing my toe is painful. Hitting the funny bone of my elbow is no laughing matter; both are unintentional and fortunately happen infrequently. The biting of my tongue takes me by surprise and discomfort lasts for days. Yet, I’d be far better off biting my tongue than back biting. (See James 3:1-12) “And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.
Every sea creature, reptile, bird, or animal is tamed and has been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:6-8 HCSB).”
Ouch! Correction hurts. There’s an antidote for the tongues poison. Salt has healing properties. “Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person (Colossians 4:6 HCSB).”
I can find control of my speech through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the tongue tamer.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23 HCSB).”