For me this is one of the most sobering passages of scripture in the whole bible concerning the judgement, and it reminds me very forcibly of what Jesus again said about it in Matt 12:36-37,“I tell you, on the day of judgement men will give an account for every careless word they utter. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” WOW!! What a challenge, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  (Matt 12:34)

    Again we are reminded in Rom 14:10  “We shall ALL stand before the judgement seat of God.” Plus that the same thought is expressed in many other places in scripture, including 2Cor 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive good or evil according to what he has done in the body.” 

    We read in James 3:6 “The tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle (or course) of nature, and set on fire by hell.” Have you noticed that the cycle, or course, of our old nature is always on a downward spiral. It never requires an effort on our part to say or do what is wrong before our God, whereas it always requires an effort for us to walk or talk in a way which is pleasing to him. 

    How conscious we should be of our conversation, especially when with the brethren! Remember Malachi 3:16-18  “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord headed and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought on his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord, my special possession on the day when I act, andI shall spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”