One of the current top news stories concerns the devastating fires in Hawaii that have destroyed much property and have taken the lives of at least 36 people. While fires are relatively common in Hawaii, these recent blazes have been particularly ravaging. Fierce winds have caused the fires to spread at a phenomenal rate, overwhelming any efforts to fight the blazes and forcing people to flee for their lives, many of them jumping into the ocean as a last resort to save themselves.

This tragedy reminds us of what the Bible says about the dangers of the tongue. James 3:5-6 reminds us, “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

A wise old man once tried to teach a young boy about the importance of being careful about what you say. He cut open a feather pillow and told the boy to empty its contents into the air. It was a windy day, and the feathers quickly began to spread across the countryside. Then the old man instructed the boy, “Now go and gather up all the feathers and put them back in the pillow.”

“Why, that’s impossible!”, the boy retorted. “The feathers are so far spread that I could never retrieve them all!”

“That is correct”, the older man replied. “In the same way, every word we speak travels quickly. Once spoken, we cannot take those words back.”

We can apologize for words that we say in haste or in anger. However, they usually have done their damage already, and our efforts to repair the damage done by our careless words are woefully inadequate.

Words spoken in haste or in anger can hurt people far more than we can ever imagine. People tend to dwell on negative comments that others make, and their harmful effect can last for years.  

Rather than try to repair the damage caused by an out-of-control tongue, how much better it is that we constantly strive to guard what we say and try to speak only words that are true, kind and necessary.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”—Eph.4:15.