As we discussed in the last post, there is much to be learned in the Bible about the tongue, the lips, words, how we speak and related topics. Last time, we looked at Proverbs 12, and in Proverbs 15, we find more wisdom on this subject:
- Gentle words can help diminish another’s anger – “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” verse 1
- Wise people use their speech to convey knowledge, but fools speak nonsense – “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” verse 2 See also verse 7.
- A those who speak health and benefit bring life, but those who speak perversion sap energy and enthusiasm – “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” verse 4
The words that we speak and the way that we speak them can bring life or they can cause death and despair. Shall we speak life or death. It is a choice. If we model our speech after our great God, we will speak life. Consider the following examples:
- Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Gen. 1:3
- Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. Gen. 1:9
- Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. Gen. 1:11
- Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Gen. 1:14-15.
- Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. Gen. 1:24
- Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. John 11:43-44
- Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Matt. 12:13
- He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Matt. 9:6-7
Beloved, may we speak as our master spoke, and bring life to our listeners. May God teach us the power of the well-disciplined tongue, fully yielded and bringing forth only pure, sweet water and with that water, life!
