Knee Jerk Reaction

My Sunday school class and I were talking about our words, and choosing them carefully. We had guidance from our material, which was taking us through passages in Matthew 15. Jesus teaches in this section that it is what comes of out a man that defiles him, not what we put in. Then we turned to Proverbs 17 ....verse 27 says "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint and a man of understanding is even-tempered". For a girl who has always had knee-jerk reactions, this stuff is convicting! We all know where the saying "knee-jerk reaction" originated....but I looked it up on the internet anyway. Here's what I found: "Striking the tendon below the patella gives rise to a sudden extension of the leg, known as the knee-jerk."
Knee -jerk reactions are the opposite of restraint. I told my Sunday school class that God had me look at this saying another way: When you show no restraint in your verbal responses you are being a jerk and you better hit your knees in prayer. Hopefully this perspective will guide me the next time I am tempted to respond with a quick retort.