The Tongue - The Instrument Of Your Success Or Failure

The tongue...you could re-name it "Gossip" or "Slander" or "Criticism." Words can heal, at the same
time, words can also do great harm. It doesn't require an outright lie to harm another
person. A little insinuation, a hint, is often enough. Once the "information" is out
there, it starts to travel through the grapevine and the damage is done. We all have
been either the recipient or the instigator of such an act...I've sure been on both sides
of that coin and I'm much more aware of it since I've become a Christian.

We write gossip off as a relative minor sin, however, the bible takes a very different
view.

Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see
good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the
LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
Psalms 34:12-15 (NKJV)

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who
has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
Psalms 101:5 (NKJV)

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of
the wise promotes health. Proverbs 12:18 (NKJV)

The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue an angry
countenance. Proverbs 25:23 (NKJV)

Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.
As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
Proverbs 26:20-21 (NKJV)

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for
a tree is known by its fruit. "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. "A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings
forth evil things. "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give
account of it in the day of judgment. "For by your words you will be justified, and by your
words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:33-37 (NKJV)

"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
witness, blasphemies. "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed
hands does not defile a man." Matthew 15:18-20 (NKJV)

For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man,
able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey
us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds,
they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts
great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so
set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by
hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
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. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and
cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. James 3:2-10 (NKJV)

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of
the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one
Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? James 4:11-12 (NKJV)

See also Anger, Hate, Judging O thers