Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 18:21

by David Chadwick

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Proverbs 18:21

King Solomon is the primary author of the book of Proverbs. Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at some of the simple truths and wise sayings from this book of the Bible. I pray that as you read each of these truths, your faith life will deepen and that you will grow in wisdom.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that life and death are in the tongue. If you have spent any amount of time on this broken planet, you have most likely experienced the pain of slanderous words, gossip, and words of death. Some people are scarred for life because of destructive negative words.

An age-old phrase says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This is such a lie! Words are incredibly powerful and can hurt deeply. However, on the other hand, words can bring great life, produce incredible results, and often have an eternal impact. Words of life exhort, encourage, bring life-giving correction, call someone to a higher standard of living like Jesus, and give strength to the soul to keep moving forward in difficult times.

In fact, James 3:3-5 tells us so much about the power of the tongue. A tiny bit in the mouth of a stallion can turn the horse one way or the other. It also tells us that a small rudder can steer a gigantic ship. A little spark from the tongue can set ablaze a forest fire. Do you get the picture? It really is sobering that such a small part of our body, the tongue, has such power.

I will never forget how my college basketball coach, Dean Smith, would huddle us together during the last minutes of an important game to speak words of encouragement to our team. Time and time again, I saw how his challenging encouragement would ignite us to play harder and often bring home a victory.

As we live in this broken world, may we seek to use our speech in ways that promote unity and victory instead of pain and destruction. May we seek to bring life to other people. Even in times of correction, may we allow the power of our tongues to produce life! In doing so, we are living like Jesus and revealing the love of the Father to those around us.