Somewhere between our brain and our mouth there should be a working filter. This filter should be aided by the Spirit’s fruit of self-control. Saying everything we think is not wisdom. Unfiltered speech can cause social forest fires. Listen to the apostle James, “The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” James 3:5 (NRSV). There are consequences to our words, both good and bad. We must think about what we say and how we say it.
“And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:6 (NRSV)
