A couple of months ago I opened the cabinet under our kitchen sink to get a dishwasher tablet and immediately noticed a pool of water. I quickly shut off the water, gathered some towels and began the process of cleaning it up. After careful inspection I discovered the culprit to be a hairline crack in my garbage disposal.
The tiniest of cracks led to damaged cabinetry and the cost of buying a new garbage disposal. Our tongues, like the smallest of cracks, can also cause a lot of damage. James 3:5 warns: “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”
Our little tongues have the great ability to build up or tear down and to praise or condemn. James goes on to warn of the damage a tongue can do (Verse 6): “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of hell.”
Verse 8 adds: “…the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
In hindsight, I probably should have examined my garbage disposal each year for any malfunctions. But most people (me included) don’t really think that way until something goes wrong. As Christians, searching the scriptures daily is our best course of preventive maintenance for our tongues. Stop the leak before it causes damage!
Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips.”