How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
–James 3:6-12 (ESV)

Just in case I miss the point, James pictures my tongue as capable of really fouling up my life, as a forest fire raging out of control, “set on fire by hell.”

It’s hard for me to fully accept James’s assertion, and it doesn’t start to sink in until I meditate on the words for a while. Then I think of how often the words of others have wounded me. Perhaps James isn’t guilty of over-stating his case after all.