Power of the Tongue

I recently had my eyes opened to a verse in Proverbs 18:21 that reads, "The power of life and death is in the tongue and those who love it will eat the fruit." I must have read those words over a hundred times throughout my life but this time I really felt the meaning in my spirit. We can actually speak life and blessings or death and destruction over ourselves, over our situations and over others? Wow!

As I pondered my words that I speak and have spoken to others, and to myself, I thought about how often negative words come out without thinking. How often do we say things like, "There's never enough money for...", or "I/You can't ever do enough, be enough, have enough..." or "I'm sick", "I can't". I could go on and on. When we argue, those always and never statements somehow come out and they are like deadly vipers. Have you ever watched as a child is scolded? Big fat tears come out and their lip quivers. As they get older, that hurt from being devalued turns into rage and we are beginning to witness the effects of rage when it turns into murder.

It may not be that difficult to comprehend the part about hurting others but do we really get the destruction over our daily lives? I was impacted enough that I decided to search the scriptures for more information on this subject.

If we go back to creation, we see early the example that God set for us in the very beginning. When he created our world, he could have nodded, blinked, thought or snapped his fingers and the result would have been the same. Yet he spoke everything into existence.

In Luke 4, Jesus was tempted by the Devil as he was fasting in the wilderness. Again, he could have done anything he wanted to his enemy. Yet he quoted scripture. Twice he replied, "It is written..." and responded to the temptation with the word of God.

In Isaiah 6:1-8, the prophet realizes as he stands in God's presence the horror of knowing that his mouth was unclean and that all of earth was afflicted in the same way. An angel provided a burning coal to purify him in God's presence. Later in Isaiah 55:8-11 we read about how God's ways and his thoughts are so much higher than ours. Then he gives the analogy of how when he speaks it is like planting seeds and bringing forth fruit. He equates this with his words bearing fruit and never returning empty. To me this magnifies how powerful speech is in our lives.

Psalms 103:20 tell us that angels obey God's voice and do what he says. It occurs to me that Almighty God could point and achieve the same results with his angels or anything else in his creation. A surprising reference in Proverbs 25:15 says that a gentle tongue can break a bone. Chapter 12:18 in Proverbs tell us, "The tongue of the wise brings healing" Later in Chapter 15:4 we read, "The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life but a decitful tongue crushes the spirit."I was humbled by the scathing words from James 1:26, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless". In Chapter 3:6 he says that the tongue is a fire that corrupts. Matthew tells us in Chapter 10:32 that God uses our voice to speak through us. In Romans 10:9 we are told to use our voice to proclaim that Jesus is Lord as a condition of salvation.

In Psalm 59, which is a prayer for protection, King Saul has sent men to hunt down and kill David. Referring to those men in verse 9, we read, "They come back at night. Like dogs they growl and roam around the city. Notice what comes from their mouths. Insults come from their lips..." Later in the same chapter, "But I will sing about your strength. In the morning I will sing of your love. You are my defender, my place of safety in times of trouble. God, my strength, I will sing praises to you. God, my defender, you are the God who loves me." Notice the difference between insults and praises?

We who are believers often do not recognize the power of our speech. We have become so focused on this physical world and immune to what happens around us in the spiritual world that our heads are down and we easily toss words out, not recognizing death and destruction in them. I wonder what would happen if we woke up to a realization of the power of life and death in the tongue. Perhaps if we spent more time thinking before we spoke. How would things change in our lives, in our families and in our relationships if we only spoke life and blessings?

I choose life and am determined to bring blessings and praise for God's glory for the rest of my days. Often I simply read God's word out loud. Sometimes when my feelings are low, I declare truth with scriptures. Many times as I pace when troubles hit, I am known to cry out, "I will praise you, God in the middle of this situation!" Lord, may I continue to focus on your truth and not how I feel. Allow me to glorify you always with my voice!