Do You Speak Death or Life?

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life… Proverbs 15:4(a)

Before my relationship with the Lord, I was a very rebellious person. I would say whatever I wanted and it didn’t concern me whose feelings I hurt or whose toes I stepped on. Cursing was my second language. I would purposefully use my words to tear people down. My words were like a sword and would cut anyone regardless of their status. I took pride in speaking this way because I believed whatever I said was truth and that’s all that matter. How I spoke the truth was of no consequence to me. I know now that futile thinking was not only foolish, but also very egotistical. 

If a chef were to prepare two separate dishes of savory tongues, which of the dishes would you choose from? Would it be the dish that is known for its love, compassion, mercy, peace, and sincerity, or would it be the dish know for its bitterness, jealousy, discord, strife, and selfishness? Each day we make a choice between the two dishes. However as we grow in Christ, the former dish should become more appetizing to eat from than the latter. The bible says in Proverbs 18:21 (NIV):

The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.

What I believe in regards to Proverbs 18:21

I do not believe as some do that Proverbs 18:21 supports the ability of man to speak things into existence. I believe that only God who has the power to speak things into existence. Based on my understanding of the word using Proverbs 18:21 to support this type of thinking is erroneous, contrary to the content of the scripture, and dangerous. Only God is all powerful and our faith in His omnipotence should be the only thing we should have a desire to exercise and seek. We should not try to equate ourselves to His level by having the desire to speak things into existence. One way we exercise our faith is by praying His words; praying His will. It is God who is omniscient. However, I do believe Proverbs 18:21 speaks in terms of how we utilize our tongue when we speak to others. We have the ability to plant seeds of life or death by the spirit of our words.

How do we speak death?

Speaking death comes naturally to those who walk according to flesh and not the Spirit. We plant the seeds of death by fabricating the truth, stirring up strife with gossip, or by speaking against someone because of our envy or jealousy. In my case, I was telling the truth, but my delivery was just outright mean and destructive. Speaking death will not only cause destruction for the messenger, but can also harm to the person hearing the message. Speaking death only satisfies self; the flesh.  Roman 8:6 (NLT):

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

When we speak death to others, even to ourselves, we are speaking the language of the enemy. In John 8: 44, Jesus said the devil is a murder and the father of lies; that lying is his native tongue. John 10:10 says it is the thief (the enemy) that comes to steal, kill and destroy. However, Jesus said he came so we can have an abundant life. As followers of Christ, our upmost desire should be to speak life. That should be our native tongue.

So how do we speak life?

Speaking life becomes easy once we submit our lives to the Spirit of God. We speak life to others by encouraging and uplifting them; but more importantly we speak life by telling the truth in love. Our motivation when speaking should always be selfless. Our thinking should always be for the other person and his well being. When I think about speaking life, I immediately think of our witness or testament of who Christ is and his act of love for all. That’s a seed of life that each Christian has a call to plant. When we constantly renew our minds with the things of God, deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow the lead of Jesus, speaking life will becomes our native language.

This topic is very significant because there are numerous scriptures in the bible that speaks about our tongue or the spirit behind our words. I encourage you to study them especially if you have a problem with your tongue. The tongue is a powerful weapon that has the power to sow seeds of life or death. We must be mindful of the words we speak because there are consequences. We can speak words that will edify, encourage, and heal brokenness, or we can speak words that can hurt or fill one with poison. We have a choice. Remember whatever we sow, we will reap.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 Philippians 4:8