Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (KJV)
The lucky guy that I am, I recently I found myself driving a van full of teenagers on a youth outing for church. While on the bus, there were some sharp words exchanged by a few of the teenagers towards one another, and even towards a few of the adults in charge. Having been a teenager not too many years ago (I'm presently 26), I found myself able to identify with the ability to randomly run one's mouth and say some pretty awful things. God knows I've said my fair share of stupid things, not only as a teenager, but even as an adult. Does that sound like you?
The Lord's teaching on how one ought to speak is always rather simple and straightforward. Indeed, I know of few easier principles to grasp and easier commandments to understand, such as, "out of the abundance of the heart a man speaks... be quick to listen, slow to speak... a gentle answer turns away wrath... let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth... etc." Yet, as simple and straightforward as these things are, I believe it is the common confession of mankind that these things are some of the most difficult things to control.
Indeed, James says every beast in the world has been tamed... except for the tongue. And why is that? For it is as the Lord said, the words we say and things we talk about ultimately show the spiritual state of our heart. For it is out of the things that overflow the heart that a man speaks. Harsh, sharp, and profane words ultimately show that we have a harsh, sharp, and profane heart. When you chew out the "idiot" who cuts you off in traffic, don't take such words as you spoke so lightly. As one preacher once said, "If there is a cuss in there, a cuss will come out!" Only once our hearts have been tamed will our mouths be.
Meditating on these things today, I thought, if our Lord will count every idle word, we should make every idle word count. If such were the condition of our heart, I believe we would see the things we say, even in the heat of a stressful moment, radically change. Indeed, we would probably find ourselves talking less and less, for which we would be all the wiser to do.