they feel. “I’m just the kind of person who speaks my mind; I don’t play games,” they say—as if a self-centered, uncontrolled tongue is a virtuous gift. The Bible never tells us to say what we think or feel. The Bible says to stop talking before you say what you feel. God tells us to ponder before we respond to another person because our words matter. “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, / But the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov. 12:18). “Like apples of gold in settings