Life and Death are in the Power of the Tongue

One of my favorite movie lines is from “Bambi” when Thumper relays the words of his mother to Bambi, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all!”  Do we really think about the power of our words?  Our words have the power to encourage or to harm.

Psalm 18:21 reads, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  This is a parallel to Deuteronomy 30:15, 19; “Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction…I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.”

The creative power of words goes back to Genesis 1:3 when God said, “Let there be light!”  That began the precedent of speaking into existence things that are, out of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1-3).  What have we become accustomed to speaking without thinking?  Have we become like the song in Hee Haw, “Gloom, despair, and agony on me?” or the sayings of Job, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25).

We as God’s children have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit in our souls (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5).  The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher and guide to grow in the grace that Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice afforded for us (The Great Exchange).

Paul tells us to throw off every weight that so easily besets (distracts) us from running the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1-3).  Are our words one of those weights that so easily distracts us from the life giving power of God’s Holy Words?  We go back to Psalms 18:21 and Deuteronomy 30:15, 19.  God through the Prophets have instructed that we need to choose life.  Life not only of salvation, but life of the fruit of our tongue.

Every word we speak is a seed.  What type of seeds are we planting with our speech?  Seeds of life or seeds of death.  So often we may not realize the significance and the power our words have on ourself and on others.  Sometimes we just blow it off and say, “I’m only joking.”  Have we ever considered that every word we speak becomes a seed that either God or Satan can take to bring about life or death?

God is absolutely good and provides only perfect gifts of life.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Jesus tells us about Satan, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Jesus lived and taught many of His parables in a farming community.  He often talked about the seed or the crop.  We need to take seriously that the words we speak are creating a crop…a crop of life or a crop of death.  Don’t be discouraged if to this point the majority of your seeds have been less than life.  That is why Jesus came and bought back (redeemed) our relationship to God the Father.  That is why Holy Spirit came to be alongside us every step of the way…because in and of ourselves…we can’t make the change.

It isn’t a “mind over matter” or a “I can do better” effort.  James Chapter 3 expresses that the tongue is a fire and “is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).  The only way we have a chance to plant better life crops is to turn our lives over to the care of God who loves us so much He gave His only son (Jesus), so that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) will have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Begin planting seeds of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23) and watch and wait expectantly like the farmers for a yet unseen crop to come to harvest as long as they (we) don’t get weary in well doing and not faint in their (our) planting and watering (Galatians 6:9).  Water those life giving word seeds with the scripture, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing and acceptable unto you O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

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