The Power of the Tongue

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”  Proverbs 18:21

We’ve all heard the saying, “You had better make your words sweet because you might just have to eat them!”  It wouldn’t surprise me if this old saying was inspired by the above proverb.  I am guessing right about now that there is a lot of indigestion going on among politicians in Washington D.C. and elsewhere.  It seems like, though, they tend to make a remark and then try to “walk it back”.  Which is it, what they said originally or what they said when they said that they didn’t say it?  I’m confused.  No, really, I think those who try to deceive and manipulate folks are the ones who are confused.  James 1:8 tells us that “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  Another way to say it is that one who is double minded is “one who talks out of both sides of his or her mouth”.  I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of all the lying and conniving that is being perpetrated upon the American people.

The book of James, Chapter 3, has a lot to say about our words.  James compares the tongue to the very small helm that steers a huge ship one way or another.  He also says that no man can tame his tongue.  We witness that fact everyday as the news is reported.  Without constraint, we can easily offend others by a hurtful word.  Once a careless word is spoken, there is no way to completely reclaim it.  We are all guilty.  We can apologize and make amends which can lead to restoration, but it is always better to think before we speak.  That can save us a lot of misery.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:34b that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”  Thus whatever is in a person’s heart, that is, his or her thoughts and attitudes, will naturally come out in the words that they say.  He went on to say that “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”  Jesus also noted that a person’s words will either justify or condemn him or her.

In my own personal attempts at becoming more Christlike, I try to think before I speak.  Sometimes all of us have said something and then realized it didn’t come out like we intended or the person to whom we were speaking misunderstood us.  One thing I have tried to put into practice before I say something is to imagine how what I say will affect the other person, and, to be honest, how it will affect me when I realize that I shouldn’t have said it.  Proverbs 29:20 says it better than I can:  “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him.”