Life and Death Are in the Power of the Tongue (Proverbs 18:21)

All of us have to watch  how we use our tongues (how we speak). We're imperfect and prone to "stumble many times" in word and deed (James 3:2). In fact, one proverb warns us that life and death are in the power of the tongue and those who love its fruit will eat the tongue's fruitage (Proverbs 18:21).

The ancients recognized this looming danger: hence, one writing states:

"The human tongue is not free, like some other members of the human body,  but is confined in the mouth, and moreover is constantly in moisture:  yet how many burns can it cause with its sharp edge and its fire. How  much worse then would it have been, were that dangerous member of the  human body possessed of more facilities."--Levit. Rabba 16.

James 3:6 (NAB)-"The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna."