The Singing Scoutmaster: Parable Of The Toothpaste, The

Have you ever squeezed too much toothpaste out of a tube of toothpaste and tried to put it back in the tube? It can't be done, can it? No matter how hard you try, the toothpaste is out of the tube forever. (Squeeze a bunch of toothpaste out of the tube onto the plate, and go through the actions of trying to get it back inside.)

Toothpaste is similar to unkind words. Once unkind words come out of your mouth, you cannot take them back.

So when we are tempted to say something unkind, we should remember the parable of the toothpaste, and keep the unkind words to ourselves.