THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR WORDS

PROVERBS 18:20-21 
20 A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; 
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. 
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, 
And those who love it will eat its fruit. 

This may be a passage I have done before in our daily devotionals. But even if I have, it's certainly worth repeating. With Biblical topics, we need to be repetitive. Especially those topics that are counterintuitive to our culture or the way we look at life.   

Here, Solomon again writing by inspiration, is making the point that our words can be productive. Our words produce. And then he tells us what they produce, good or bad, death or life.   

Our current culture will not typically embrace this truth. And yet, we see them use this principle on a regular basis. In athletics, we don't see elite athletes talking defeat. Especially the ones who compete for long periods of time. We don't see MMA fighters and boxers talking death. Death meaning negative defeatist words. Especially in this field of athletics, these fighters speak positive words about their upcoming fights. They know better than to speak death.   

While we may not be competing on a world stage or elite level, we are still "running our race" and fighting our "good fight." And we need to be speaking life, positive faith filled words, not death. Life regarding our walk with the Lord that we can do this, we can live successfully for Him. Life regarding our relationships, especially those who are married. Life about our kids. Life regarding our work and health. If our words can produce or destroy, we need producing words. Speak life! 
 

APPLICATION 

Getting hold of our words is not something we should take lightly. We're not "just sayin." We are speaking productive words of life. Not negative destructive words full of fear and death. No killer words. This is a challenging task that we much constantly stay on top of. Not something we try but something we do and keep doing.   

So do an audit of your words. Are your words helping or hurting your world? The good news is that we can change and develop in this area. As we follow the Lord, let's follow Him with our mouth. Speak life! 

PRAYER

Dear Father, help me put a guard on my mouth. I want to only speak words that honor You and that help my world, not hurt it.