THE WORDS OF DEATH, THE WORDS OF LIFE

In life, we can only speak two things: the right and the wrong words. It says in Proverbs 18:21 that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

The words that we speak can therefore, bring life and death. The right words bring life. The wrong words bring death.

John 6:63 tells us that words are spirit and they are life. Man is spirit too. That is why words can affect us tremendously. They can either hurt us or encourage us. They can either put us down or lift us up.

Death is in the power of the tongue

2 Timothy 2:15-19 says that wrong words increase to more ungodliness and they eat up the soul like cancer. “...Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, they have strayed concerning the truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith” (2 Timothy 2:17-18).

A wrong word is a devouring spirit that can destroy the faith in others. The same is true with the wrong doctrines of false religions. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 tells us that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

The tongue is a small thing but can make grand speeches (James 3:5). And among all parts of the body, the tongue is likened to a fire (James 3:6). Making false and damaging statements about someone and spreading unfavorable information about others are the words that should not come out of our mouths. We need to be careful not to gossip or slander other people. We need to assess if the words we speak can build up or edify a person. We need to make sure that we impart life and not death. Ephesians 4:29 tells us that no corrupt word should proceed out of our mouths, but what is good for necessary edification so that it may impart grace to the hearers.

We need to be reminded that every careless word that we utter is accounted for as spoken by Jesus Christ in Matthew 12:36. Every idle word we speak, we will give an account of it in the day of judgment. For by our words we will be justified and by our words we will be condemned.

It says in James 3:2 that if anyone could control the tongue and does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. We also need to be watchful of the condition of our hearts for out of the abundance of our hearts our mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). As David prayed in Psalm 19:45, let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in God’s sight.

Life is in the power of the tongue

When God created the heavens and the earth, He created it through a spoken Word. Jesus also spoke the words of eternal life (John 6:67-68). It says in Proverbs 16:24 that pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

The words that we speak therefore can bring life to others. We want to be among those who will encourage and speak life to other people. We want to be among those who will build up someone else’s faith. We want to be among those who will speak the Word in due season (Proverbs 15:23). The right words spoken in due season can bring healing and they put us in the right path.

Anointed words can make us clean. Jesus says in John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” Ephesians 5:26 also tells us that we are being sanctified and cleansed by the washing of water by the Word of God.

The words we speak can also bring people unto the kingdom of God. The people of Nineveh were brought to repentance when Jonah preached the Word of God to them. A quote from the book T4T: A discipleship Re-Revolution says “Effective evangelism involves effective leadership – to bring people into the kingdom. God convicts, but we must persuade. Biblical persuasion is calling people to respond to God’s conviction. It is not manipulation, but leading people to respond to what God is saying” (Smith and Ying Kai). This is what Peter did in Acts 2:37-40 when he preached the Gospel to the crowd. He solemnly testified and kept on exhorting the crowd with many other words until they were saved.

The words that we speak make an impact in the lives of people. If we are to reach nations, our words should be consecrated to God. David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23:2 says “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” We must allow the Lord to put His words into our mouths so that we only speak the words He wants us to speak.

Prophet Isaiah is an example of a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:4) but in the mercy of God, He purged and cleansed Isaiah’s lips (Isaiah 6:6). Because of this cleansing, the Spirit of the Lord was able to speak mightily through the Prophet Isaiah as testified in Acts 28:25.

The Lord is looking for people through whom He can speak and so we need to desire to be that mouthpiece of God. We want to be like Isaiah whose lips were cleansed. We want to be clean vessels of God who will speak life to people around us.

Source: Smith, Steve, and Ying Kai. T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution. WIGTake Resources, 2011. E-book.