The Power of the Tongue
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
From: Martin Overfield
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000
The Power of the Tongue
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall
eat the fruit thereof." (Proverbs 18:21)
"The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom."
(Proverbs 10:21)
"The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the
wicked speaketh frowardness." (Proverbs 10:32)
"A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in
due season, how good is it!" (Proverbs 15:23)
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."
(Proverbs 25:11)
"In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (Job 2:10)
"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." (James 1:26)
"Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is
a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that
it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell." (James 3:5, 6)
"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison." (James 3:8)
The tongue is a powerful thing. One word spoken can do a tremendous
amount of good or a devastating amount of evil. It is obvious from the
Scriptures that both possible uses lie within the reach of every one of us
who can speak.
A harmful use of the tongue is to express a destructive type of
criticism. Take for instance how such criticism can adversely affect the
development of a child. A child may actually be trying very hard to do
good, or to please his parent(s). If this child s always battered about
with critical, negative remarks about how far short he falls of his parent's
expectations, he is likely to develop the idea that he can never do anything
good enough. This is awfully discouraging and it adversely affects a
child's
concept of God, which may be a hindrance to him the rest of his life.
Certainly we all know what it is to encounter someone who almost
exclusively uses his tongue to breathe death down the necks of those to
whom he speaks.
On the flipside of this issue is the helpful use of the tongue to bring
encouragement to a person on the brink, or even in the caldron, of despair.
You see, I know by personal experience what it is to be the child that I
described above; and, I also know what it is to gain life and strength from
the words of one whom God uses.
As a young man at Bible college, I had fallen into a backslidden
condition, because I had failed to spend enough quality time alone with God
and His Word. I really wanted to serve God, but as I tried to pray at an
altar, the enemy of my soul used the awfully harmful concept that had been
placed in my mind at a young age to discourage me from trusting God. The
enemy was very successful in "helping" me to keep my eyes upon MY failures.
It seemed so hopeless!
Then a dear friend of mine quoted this Scripture verse about Jesus: "A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench:"
(Isaiah 42:3). I had never before understood these helpful words. The Lord
used my friends tongue, anointed His Word to my heart, and opened my
understanding. I then saw that the Scripture was saying that, though I was
bruised, the Lord did not want to break me, and though I was like a fire
that was only smoldering, He would not snuff me out! Then did my heart take
courage! Then did I see that I should look to the faithfulness and love of
my Lord and look away from my failures! I thank God for my friend, who used
the power of the tongue to help a soul in need.
I would like to remind us that Jesus said, "That every idle word that
men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
(Matthew 12:36). Therefore, let us speak in such a manner as would glorify
God and help -- truly help -- our fellow man on the way to Heaven.
Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield
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