Proverbs 18:20 Death and life are in the power of the tongue:
Even the most learned of theologians, who read the bible line by line and verse by verse, from time to time run into phrases that stop them right in their tracks and cause them to take notice. This certainly is one of those lines that falls into such a category.
To fully understand the lesson being taught here, we must first look at a more simplistic meaning of the two words, death and life. Death in its initial state, not final state, is simply when the power of life, and all that pertains to its goodness, begins to diminish in any form or fashion. Life is the birth of a child, the bloom of a flower, long marriages, successful businesses, the happiness of life, and all that is wonderful and healthy in this world. Death is when life and all of these things that pertain to it begin to fade.
According to this proverb the tongue has the power to create, or initiate either of these processes in human life. It is a law that is just as real as any law of physics or common law of nature. People that understand the power of their words are people that most of the time use them wisely, and use them for good. Words are abused most readily by those who have no understanding of the power that they possess. In the same way that God created all that exist in this world, both seen and unseen, by the power of his tongue, we too have been granted such a power, just in a much more limited fashion, but certainly creative nonetheless. The blatant fact is that we create the kind of life that we live by the very words that we speak.
However, possibly even more importantly, we need to know that our words have a creative impact on the lives of others as well. Words can encourage, motivate, teach, and inspire. However, they can also do the opposite as well, if we are not careful about what we say and how we say it. Therefore, knowing the creative power that we possess, we must become determined today to speak good things, both into our own lives and the lives of people around us.
Pastor La Vaughn
