Life-giving tongue

I love striking conversations with complete strangers while I am out shopping, in a hospital, airport, or in the library. It must be an innate urgency to tell someone that they will come out victorious no matter how helpless the situation might be or simply how “Jesus loves you”. I have realized that our life-giving tongue/ untamed tongue can produce either life or death.”

Growing up, many people teased me as one who is a chatterbox who chats away because her tongue doesn’t have a bone, even though I loved watching others laugh at my silly jokes. I started taking it personally as it hurt me and became quieter while carefully examining what I am about to say.

Our words can either produce a tree of life or crush someone’s spirit. “Thou shall not kill” out of the 10 commandments is not just murder of a person’s life but also of someone else’s heart and soul. The Lord forbids us to say or do anything hurtful to someone else’s health and body.

WHOLESOME LIFE-GIVING TONGUE

There is power in a wholesome tongue. It is a tree of life. A life speaking tongue is one that is soothing, brings healing, comforting, and reconciling. It is a seasoned speech that speaks life and cures a sick soul like a wholesome fruit of a prolific tree.

Just as a high-spirited horse must be curbed with a strong hand, our unbridled tongue must be replaced by a sanctified spirit. Wars have started because of uncontrolled tongues and broken many.

God, the Giver of life who breathed into you and I, has commanded that we bring healing and life into others as well with our seasoned speech.

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I have been studying Proverbs 15 in my quiet time. It has a wealth of information on the power of a wholesome, life giving tongue.

HERE ARE 6 AMAZING POWER OF A WHOLESOME LIFE-GIVING TONGUE

1.A life-giving tongue turns away wrath.

Verse 1, A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath,

Our tongue has the power to divert and soothe. King David send messengers to Nabal (his name means fool) and David pleaded the kindness Nabal’s shepherds had received.  But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. 1 Samuel 25: 10

On hearing this, David was insulted and commanded his servants to put their swords on. Word come to Abigail, Nabal’s wife who made a wise decision to plead to the king and use the power of wholesome words to turn away David’s wrath. (1 Samuel 25: 18-32) .

2. A wholesome wise tongue adorns knowledge

Verse 2,7 – The tongue of the wise speaks knowledge that is pleasing and acceptable,

A wise woman knows when to speak and what to leave unspoken. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We must adorn knowledge as part of our ornament and evaluate the situation, the circumstances, and the person’s heart before using our words.

May I confess? I am a work in progress in this area.

3. A life-giving tongue speaks life through prayer

(verse 8) But the prayer of the upright is His delight!

The Lord delights in the prayer of a righteous woman. The prayer of such whose, walk and talk is in sync with God’s Word brings joy to Him. For it was in the publican’s humble and broken-hearted prayer that Jesus delighted more than the gaudy and arrogant words of the Pharisee.

Lord Jesus, I pray that the words of my mouth will be acceptable unto You and speak life to those around me.

4. A wholesome life-giving tongue is an ambassador of Christ and not a mocker

(verse 12) A scoffer [unlike a wise man] resents one who rebukes him and tries to teach him;

John Gill’s Exposition explains a mocker as one who “makes a jest of religion; scoffs at godliness and godly men; treats the Gospel and the ministers of it with contempt; makes a mock at good men, and all that is good;”

An ambassador of Christ is one who is approved of God to be a representative of her Maker. Therefore, her choice of words is spoken circumspectly, extremely careful not to mock another believer disrespectfully.

5. A wholesome life-giving tongue is a peacemaker and not a heart breaker

(verse 18) A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But he who is slow to anger and patient calms disputes.

A woman of contentious spirit stirs up strife where there was none to begin with. A peacemaking woman is a blessed one who quenches the coals of contention gracefully and boldly. Abraham , a friend of God chose to speak life over his nephew Lot and share the better part of the land rather than curse or fight Lot. What  a great example to follow when families mistreat and fight !

Genesis 13:8,9 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.

6. A wholesome tongue knows how to speak life and give timely advice

Verse 23 : A man has joy in giving an appropriate answer,
And how good and delightful is a word spoken at the right moment—how good it is!

“Sermo opportunus”, is a gracious word spoken appropriately in the right moment in the exact season

Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Jesus Christ is the greatest model who looked at the woman caught in adultery and said – “neither do I condemn. Sin no more “.

He was compassionate through His life giving, wholesome tongue yet firm.

In John 11, Jesus looked at his friends Mary and Martha who had lost their brother and comforted them by saying “their brother is sleeping “

He didn’t say “sorry your brother died let me see what I can do about it. OR Oh , death was bound to happen.”

He comforted and wept along with them.

RELATED TOPIC  TO READ : HOW TO IMITATE JESUS WITH HIS EXEMPLARY QUALITIES

Jesus told his disciples and the sisters that Lazarus is sleeping, and he will rise again. Whoever believes in me will live. John 11:25

Dear friend, death is not the end for a child of God. Have you been grieving loss of your loved one? The Bible says that when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the dead in Christ can rise first and those who are alive will be caught up with HIM. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) .

Hallelujah!

In due season, in the exact minute God sent His only begotten Son to give us everlasting life. Let us speak life and point those who are crushed, lost in sinful pleasures back to Christ.

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REFLECTION :

How has the power of someone else’s wholesome life-giving tongue blessed your life?

How can we continue to reflect Christ by being a life giving tongue in this world where foul words are part of a sentence?

Until next time,

Diana