Salt Water And Fresh Water!

In the third chapter of James, He discusses the tongue and the damage that can be inflicted with one that is out of control. All of us have said things that we later regretted. Once the words come out of our mouth, there is no taking them back. The damage is done and all we have left is regret. We are told in the scriptures that we need to think before we speak.
James; 1:19-20
(So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.)
Most of the time when we say things we wish we hadn't, we are probably mad or tired or just plain vengeful. That's why we should stop and ask ourselves if what we're going to say is edifying or destructive to the hearer.

How are we walking? Are we walking in the flesh or the Spirit? This also can have a very big impact on what flows out of our mouth. Which one is in control of our mouth at the time we speak? What are we trying to accomplish with our words? Are we trying to inflict pain or comfort? If we are walking in the Spirit, then what we say should be edifying to the hearer.
Galatians; 5:22-23
(But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.)

God is the only one who can tame the tongue and we need to let him have total control. If we think for a minute we have our tongue under control, then we are fooling ourselves. God tell us that NO man can control the tongue.
James; 3:8-9
(But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
So we see that if we are trying to control it without God's help, it will be a losing battle. The question we need to ask our self is, "are we producing fresh water (edification) or salt water (damage)?" We shouldn't be producing both out of the same mouth.
James; 3:11-12
(Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.)

The next time before we speak, we need to be sure that what we say will be edifying and not hurtful to the hearer.


God Bless You!