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"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit."
(Proverbs 18:21)
The word translated "power" in Hebrew is yad, which can also be translated "hand". Like a weapon in one's hand, our words can defend and give life or inflict harm and cause death. One writer puts it this way, "They who use it much must abide the consequences of their words, whether by kind and pure and edifying conversation they contribute health and life to themselves and others, or whether by foul, calumnious, corrupting language they involve themselves and others in mortal sin." (H. D. M. Spence and Ed Jones, The Pulpit Commentary--Proverbs (electronic ed.), p. 352)
The second part of Proverbs 18:21 says, "those who love it will eat its fruit." The ones who understand how powerful words are and use that power to build up and not tear down will enjoy many blessings. However, the opposite is true as well. If you utilize the power of destructive words, you will have to live with the bad fruit that comes with the use of those damaging words. Words are like toothpaste that has been squeezed out of the tube. You have to live with it because you cannot put it back.
Dr. Tom Eliff is a powerful preacher and one of the godliest and wisest men I have ever met. Years ago, when I was teaching at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, he came and spoke in chapel. I have heard hundreds of sermons as a college and seminary student and seminary professor. I cannot remember most of them, but I do remember this one. He preached a message entitled "The Curse of Words" wherein he stated that everyone had been cursed and hurt by what someone had said about them... and he is right. Most of the time, that curse has come from a parent. Parents have enormous power in their children's lives, either to build them up and bless them, or tear them down and curse them.
All of us have the choice. Will we curse or bless? I am not talking about saying bad words; I am talking about something far more sinister and life-altering. I am talking about using words that go deep into one's soul and torment them and can only be overcome by the truth of what God says about them.
Solomon begins with the negative first by using the word "death"—yes, death; we can kill one another with our words. We can inflict great pain with the words we speak. We can kill dreams, dash hopes, and ruin a life with the little instrument called the tongue.
Have you spoken an unkind word in anger recently? Ask the Lord and the other person to forgive you. Remember: death and life. You can engage in one or the other simply with the words you speak. Let us choose life!
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