"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
Of all our actions that we thoughtfully control, perhaps the most difficult is the tongue. But we see here that it is imperative that we control our speech. Failure to monitor what comes out of our mouths renders our religion worthless. If we think that there is no problem, we have deceived ourself. Careless speech makes our pious actions invalid. What we believe doesn't matter to anyone if we aren't consistent. And speech is easily observable. Where there is an uncontrolled tongue, there is no respect. People don't attribute any value to what you believe.
What is valuable? Charitable actions, caring for those who are neglected, loving those in affliction, and keeping yourself from being negatively influenced by the world--all of these are right and good. Not only that, they are what we should be doing.
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