"Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies" (Ps. 34:12-13).
"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit" (Prov. 15:4).
F. W. Boreham tells of a man with two pockets. One has a hole in it and the other is carefully watched that no hole develops in it. Everything he hears of a hurtful nature—insults, cutting remarks, gossip, unclean suggestions, or any such thing—he writes on a piece of paper and sticks it into his pocket with the hole. Everything he hears that is kind, true, and helpful he writes on a piece of paper and puts it in the pocket without the hole.
At night he pulls out all that is in the pocket without the hole, goes over all that he had put into it during the day, and thoroughly enjoys all the good things that have come his way that day.
Then he sticks his hand into the pocket with the hole and finds nothing there, so he rejoices that there are no evil things to rehearse.
Many of us reverse the other, putting the evil things in the pocket without the hole so we can mull over them again and again. And in the pocket with the hole we put the good things so they are quickly forgotten.
Paul said it this way: "...if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on such things."
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