Abundant Grace Fellowship
Death And Life Are In The Power Of Your Tongue
Death And Life Are In the Power Of Your Tongue
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant Grace Fellowship,
Most of us can remember Mom or Dad telling us as children that if we didn’t have something nice to say, then we shouldn’t say anything at all. Many of us as parents or grandparents now pass along the same advice. Whether or not you know it, that is a very Biblical principle. Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue. That is an amazing statement. Death and life are in the power of your tongue, or in the words you speak.
This should come as no surprise to a Bible reading Christian. We see in the very first chapter of Genesis God speaking this world into existence. “Let there be”, and there was. We see Jesus rebuke sickness, command storms to cease, curse a fig tree, raise the dead, and cast out demons (just to name a few) all by speaking to them. We also see Jesus teaching His disciples these same principles, such as “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain” (Mt. 17:20, 21:21, Mark 11:23), and “Ye might say unto this sycamine tree” (Lk. 17:6). These are just a couple of examples.
2 Cor. 4:13 says we believe, therefore we speak. We as Christians need to speak what we believe, which is God’s Word. Let no corrupt (rotten, worthless) communication proceed from out of thy mouth, but that which edifies (or builds up) {Eph. 4:29}. Our words should build people up. They should be encouraging. Blessing should be what comes out of our mouths, not cursing (James 3:10).
I’m sure all of us have said things we wish we hadn’t. Although we can apologize and even be forgiven, we can never take those words back. That’s why the Bible says we should be slow to speak, slow to anger, and quick to listen. It also says a fool utters all of his mind, but a wise man keeps it in until afterwards. Until after what, you ask? Until after he’s had a chance to think about what he wants to say.
James 3:8 says “the tongue can no man tame, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” “Well if no man can tame it, what can I do about my tongue?” Yield it fully to God. Refuse to yield it to the devil. You can’t tame it, but God can. Spend time everyday reading and meditating on God’s Word, and decide in your heart that’s all your going to speak, no matter what. Also know that every idle word we speak we will give account for, so as my friend says, “Make your words sweet, ‘cause you don’t know which ones you’ll have to eat!”
We can greatly encourage and edify our children, our spouse, our parents, our friends, our employees, our boss, and just about anyone with kind, faith filled words, or we can tear down and destroy these same people by speaking discouraging, deadly, curse filled words. Death and life are in the power of your tongue. In 1Peter 4:11 the apostle wrote “If any man speak, let him speak the oracles (utterances, or words) of God.” Wow. Peter said if you open your mouth to speak, it should be speaking God’s Word. I think God might be trying to tell us what we say is very important.
I pray this has blessed you and that you’ll apply these truths to your life today, and see what a difference speaking life and blessing makes in your life.