There are six main diseases mentioned in the Bible that can attack our tongue:

1.) Excessive talking

Proverbs 10:19 says, When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.’

In other words, if we say too much we are bound to say something wrong. When you hear a person continually talking, you need no other evidence; according to the Bible they are a fool. A fool’s voice is known by a multitude of words.

James 3:8 says, ‘No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.’ People who are always talking are restless people. Have you ever been with someone who made your head spin in circles because of all the words that came out of their mouth? What is their root problem? Their problem is restlessness. Excessive talking is a sign that a person’s heart is not at rest.

2.) Careless words

In Matthew 12:36, Jesus says; ‘But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word that they have spoken.’ One day we are going to have to give an answer for every word we have spoken – we are going to have to explain those careless, insincere words that we didn’t really mean – those words that we spoke but failed to back-up in reality.

In Matthew 5:37, Jesus says; ‘Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’ be ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.’ If we say things we don’t mean, or we exaggerate things through our speech – this comes from the evil one. Here is one simple rule to remember – if you don’t mean it, don’t say it.

3.) Gossip

Proverbs 18:8 says, ‘The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.’ When we hear something about someone else that puts them in a bad light – there is something in the human heart that rejoices, that finds it as tasty as a choice morsel. But we must be careful when someone puts a choice morsel in front of us, not to swallow it! As we receive this choice morsel into our hearts, our lives will become poisoned by the gossip.

Proverbs 20:19 says, ‘A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.’ It is not enough that we do not gossip; we must not receive the gossip either. We must not eat those choice morsels – we must avoid such people and such situation.

4.) Lying

5.) Flattery

Proverbs 29:5 says, ‘Whoever flatters his neighbour is spreading a net for his feet.’ There are people who will speak flattering words, but they are not sincere. There is another motive behind their words. If we listen to the flattering words of those who have wrong motives they will become a net around our feet and eventually trip us up.

6.) Hastiness of speech