A Toxic Tongue

I don't really consider myself a political person. To be honest, until my husband joined the Army I didn't really follow politics at all. Now politics affect my daily life, and so I have started paying more attention.
What I have some to realize is that behind the politics are real people, with real feelings. While I realize that this is America and we all have the freedom to speak our mind and believe what we do, we need to be good stewards of this gift of freedom. Before you speak your mind about things that are going on, you need to ask yourself why you are voicing your opinion. Is it just to get attention? Is it just to make some noise?
Because the military is close to my heart I am going to use that as an example. Today my feelings got hurt by another persons opinion of what my husband as well as every other soldier stands for. While everyone has the right to think what they want to about the war, and recent military actions, remember the women who have lost husbands in these actions, the children who won't have their mommy's or daddy's come home for dinner. Remember that your quips, while exorcising your freedom, may hurt another person.
In getting back to basics, the idea of what comes out of my mouth has been forefront. The Bible has alot to say about this....one of my favorites is:
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."
In our day to day activities we let things come out of our mouths that are toxic. While the saying goes, "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me", we all know that isn't true. We can all think back to something someone has said that has stuck with us and still brings about some pain.
So lets remember to guard our tongue, in all aspects of life.