‘A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his
mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the
tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit’ (Prov 18:20-21).
Our mouth produces the fruit of what we say whether they are
careless words or death or life if we are not careful. Jesus said in Mat 12: 35-37, ‘a
good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an
evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth the evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men
may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned’. This
explains us how careful we should be with our words. Also, remember, you speak out of the
abundance of your heart. If you have
treasured the words of Life, then you will speak words of grace seasoned with
salt (Col 5:4).
In the Bible we see a man, who was upright and blameless in
the sight of God, snared by his own words.
His name is Job. He had seven
sons and three daughters. Job 1:4-5, ‘his
sons used to go and feast in the house of each on his day, and they invited
their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
And when the days of their feasting were over; Job sent for them to
purify and hallow, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings
according to the number of them all. For
Job SAID, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in
their hearts. Thus did Job at all
times.’ Job was motivated
by fear not that his sons actually committed sins but feared that they might have sinned and cursed God.
Now go with me to Job 3: 25 and see what Job said: ‘for
the thing which I greatly feared comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid
befalls me.’ Job was snared by
his own words. He ate the fruit of his
lips. The Bible never said ‘death and
life are in the power of the next door neighbor or your enemy who curses you;
but it is in the power of your tongue. You will surely eat the fruit of it.
God’s Word ministers grace, strength, courage, comfort, hope
and peace to our lives. You retain them
in your heart to ponder and speak over you and others. Let your conversation be seasoned with the
Word of Life. Eph 4:29 says, ‘let
no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.’
You may be thinking that you have spoken words carelessly;
but you can begin again. Ask God for His
forgiveness and His help to control your tongue. Renounce those words of death spoken over you
or you spoken over others. Loose
yourself from its impact and nullify its effect by declaring God’s Word.
Pray with me: Dear Heavenly Father, Your Word
says that the tongue of the Righteous is wholesome and it is a Tree of
Life. Please forgive me for speaking
words of death and destruction over others and myself. Help me to retain Your Words in my
heart. My tongue is wholesome and it
feeds many. Your Word in my mouth is
Life and minister grace and bring healing to my world. Thank You for Your Word which rests and abide
in my heart. In Jesus mighty Name. Amen.
For Further Study: Prov 4: 23-24; Psalm 141: 3; Psalm 119: 23-24; James 3: 5-10
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