Proverbs 13:3

The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

      Words are easy to come by. The phrase “words are cheap” ring true to observers of people. The fact that it is so easy to speak leads some people to think that they should do so often. However, the Proverbs author points out that it is better off for us to guard our mouths. We should make sure that we weight our words so that when we speak, it matters. So many people will talk your ear off, but they have very little of value to say.

      We can easily see how people would come to ruin by opening their mouths wide open. The person who can not keep a secret is a great example. First of all, they break the trust of those around them. People will stop confiding in them.  Second, they look the fool for revealing things that should not be revealed. Not only that, sometimes secrets are secrets because they are not yet final. When things change at the last minute, the look the fool.

       There are also people who cannot control what they say. They offend people often because they do not control their thoughts or their tongues. They then wonder why people no longer desire to hang around them. Also, they speak without carrying an idea through to its consequences. Again, they may be made to look the fool because they did not think through their words carefully, but instead spoke off the top of their head. By not controlling their tongue, people can cause damage to both themselves and others. No one can deny the importance of carefully guarding the tongue.

The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.