Lips, Mouth and Tongue
Wise Words 2
Proverbs 18
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 4) "The words of a person's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is an overflowing stream." (v. 6-7) "By talking, a fool gets into an argument, and his mouth invites a beating. A fool's mouth is his ruin. His lips are a trap to his soul." (v. 13) "He Who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame." (v. 20-21) "From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
My Thoughts
So this is what stood out to me most while reading Proverbs 18: that we have to be careful with our words. It is definitely true that the tongue has the power of life and death. You see it all the time. Enemies speak death, friends speak life. That saying that words can never hurt you is false. It is so very false.
Every year it seems there's another teenager who commits suicide. The reasons are all different for each scenario, but still similar. It has to do with some kind of bullying or abuse. A huge part of either (or both in some cases, unfortunately) is verbal.
Have you ever heard that it takes seven positive things said to a person to counteract one negative thing said to them? I don't know how 'set in stone' that is, but I do know that when someone is told that they are worthless or stupid or ugly or any number of other things, it's not going to take one positive opposite to fix it. The more negative things said to a person, the longer it will take for them to recover from it and the harder it will be.
Everyone says things they don't mean because they are jealous or angry or something else. I have before, and I felt horrible for saying those things, especially when the person found out about it. I wanted to do everything I could to fix it. Thankfully, more often than not, people do understand and forgive.
For those of us who follow Christ, we should be extra careful about what we say. It doesn't even matter to who you say it, really, because if it isn't something nice, it shouldn't be said at all. You can talk about how you feel about someone, but you don't have to call them names in doing so.
Our words should bring life to others. And strength and courage and hope and joy and peace and truth. If our words hurt other people, then we need to seriously think about what we are saying and how we say it and all that. As God's people, there is no way that others should be hurt by what we say to them. If someone is convicted by what we say, that's different because they are hearing the truth and don't want to admit it. God will work in them after.
Don't let your tongue speak death. It has the power to do so and it is very easy for it to. Control it and use it to speak life.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Every year it seems there's another teenager who commits suicide. The reasons are all different for each scenario, but still similar. It has to do with some kind of bullying or abuse. A huge part of either (or both in some cases, unfortunately) is verbal.
Have you ever heard that it takes seven positive things said to a person to counteract one negative thing said to them? I don't know how 'set in stone' that is, but I do know that when someone is told that they are worthless or stupid or ugly or any number of other things, it's not going to take one positive opposite to fix it. The more negative things said to a person, the longer it will take for them to recover from it and the harder it will be.
Everyone says things they don't mean because they are jealous or angry or something else. I have before, and I felt horrible for saying those things, especially when the person found out about it. I wanted to do everything I could to fix it. Thankfully, more often than not, people do understand and forgive.
For those of us who follow Christ, we should be extra careful about what we say. It doesn't even matter to who you say it, really, because if it isn't something nice, it shouldn't be said at all. You can talk about how you feel about someone, but you don't have to call them names in doing so.
Our words should bring life to others. And strength and courage and hope and joy and peace and truth. If our words hurt other people, then we need to seriously think about what we are saying and how we say it and all that. As God's people, there is no way that others should be hurt by what we say to them. If someone is convicted by what we say, that's different because they are hearing the truth and don't want to admit it. God will work in them after.
Don't let your tongue speak death. It has the power to do so and it is very easy for it to. Control it and use it to speak life.
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
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