Taken from The Dawning of Wisdom Part 1
Also available in booklet 6, The Wise and the Foolish
Day 13
Proverbs 13:
3  He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
 Today, again, our emphasis is on the importance of the words we speak.  Watching what we speak  is more important than most of us realize.  Have you ever just sat back and listened to people talk?  Some babble on and on with many empty words.  Some speak foolishly with silly talk.  Many of the sit-coms on TV are nothing but a rash of foolish talk.
Some people speak with filthy language or curse words, expressing evil thoughts.  Others speak negative, harmful thoughts.  They are always looking at what is wrong.  Some speak dishonestly or use flattery for their own gain.  All these wrong ways of speaking that lead to ruin come from the natural man.
When our hearts are regenerated, born again, we should put away wrong ways of talking.  We need to deliberately determine to do this, to set a guard at our lips.
 We need to learn to speak what God says about a situation and get our words lined up with what He can do.  Too many of us speak what we see or hear or feel and that may be contrary to what God says and to His ways.
James tells us that we steer our course of direction with our tongues, like a ship is steered by a a very small rudder.  A big ship will go wherever the navigator at the helm wants it to go and we are at the helm of our tongue. We can point it in any direction we choose, for good or for evil.
Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  (James 3:4)
Wise:  knows that he will eat the fruit of his lips and will change his speaking patterns in a way that will bring life.
Foolish:  speaks rashly, comes to ruin

Flossie Randels