A girl was getting ready for her first day of middle school. As her mother tucked her into bed that night, she held out a tube of toothpaste.

“As you start school, it’s important to remember that your words have incredible power to build someone up or tear someone down.” She squeezed out a big dollop of toothpaste onto her daughter’s hand and handed her the tube. “Could you put that toothpaste back into the tube for me, dear?”

Her daughter tried to smear some of the paste back into the tube, making a mess. “Mom, that’s impossible!”

Her mother grinned. “I agree. Always remember that your words are like toothpaste in a tube: very easy to come out but impossible to take back once they’ve been spoken. So be careful what you say to people. Hurtful words are hard to remedy.”

How true! Throughout James chapter 3 in the Bible, we are reminded that what comes out of our mouths is capable of setting the world on fire! Taming our tongues is a daily battle for most of us. We need to remember that our words carry immense power to hurt or heal, to uplift or tear down. Let’s strive to speak words of love!

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be” (James 3:9,10).