The Power of the Tongue

Even in this world of over-communication with texting, blogging, facebook, twitter, and the like, words still matter, especially the spoken word. It is still powerful, can be a force for good or evil, can cause much pain or joy, and even alter lives. The Bible has a lot to say about the tongue, things like “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21), and “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity . . . it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell . . . it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:6-8). Psalms 57:4 even compares the tongue to a sharp sword. Strong statements, all, and statements telling us that with our tongue we can either built up or destroy, that our tongue can actually be deadly, and what we continually say is what we will eventually get.

I think most of us have witnessed some of the following: A parent saying, when speaking of their young child, “oh, he’s impossible and will certainly be a terror as a teenager.” And sure enough, their child grows up to fulfill that low expectation. Or how about a person who habitually proclaims, “I can’t do anything right. I’ll never amount to anything,” with the words actually becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. And how about a husband who constantly criticizes his wife, or a wife who constantly verbalizes her disapproval of her husband? More than likely, both will eventually end up “killing” their marriage. What they all have in common is that they have continually spoken words of death over their child, themselves, or each other, and will end up eating “the fruit thereof.”

What we need to do is first pray what the psalmist prayed in Psalms 34:13 that God would keep our tongue from evil, and our lips from speaking guile. Then we need to consciously speak words of life over each other and our circumstances. We need to encourage and lift one another up, not only our family but our friends, too. We need to find the good and speak about that.

It amazes me what a kind word can do for a person; how a word of encouragement or praise can lift a person’s spirit and even his/her outlook. But it shouldn’t surprise. Proverbs 15:4 tells us that “a wholesome tongue is a tree of life.”

Oh, how important it is for us to guard our tongue! Our words have such far reaching consequences. If we use them wisely, if we use them to build up and not destroy, we will, in due time, have a wonderful harvest of good fruit to enjoy.

Until next time,

Sylvia