Saturday February 18th, 2023
Meditate on: Proverbs 18:21 GNT
« What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words. »
Read: Numbers 13:25-33
25 And they returned from spying the land after forty days.
26 They came back to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, in wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 They gave this account and said, “we went to the land where you sent us. It surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified, and very large, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the land in the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, live in the mountains: and the Canaanites live by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb silenced the people before Moses, and said, “let us go up at once, and take possession; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “we are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they gave to the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had explored. They said, “the land we explored devours those living in it, and all the people we saw there are of great size.
33 There we saw the giants, descendant of Anak, and we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we look the same to them.
Understand:
A person’s words have enormous influence for good or evil and are a sure indicator of the person’s character.
The impact of our speech cannot be over emphasized, for the Bible makes it clear that a man’s speech has power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21), and is also capable of bringing success or misfortune to the speaker, as shown in Proverbs 12:13-14 CEV, which says:
« 13 We trap ourselves by telling lies, but we stay out of trouble by living right. 14 We are rewarded or punished for what we say and do. »
Job 19:12 reveals that a person’s words can destroy others but it also has the capacity to give life to its hearers (Isaiah 50:4).
You can easily identify the righteous by their speech.
In Isaiah 50:4, these categories of people are referred to as “the learned”. “Learned” in this sense does not refer to legal practice, it rather refers to those who are knowledgeable in God’s word. Such people do not speak carelessly.
They understand the weight of words and use their words effectively, knowing that someday, they will have to account for every idle word they have spoken.
Whenever they open their mouth, a bit of what is stored within them comes forth in line with Mathew 12:34 b which says:
« for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. »
For those who are genuinely saved, our speech and actions are controlled by God’s word that is hidden in our hearts. Psalm 37:30-31 NKJV says:
« 30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. »
When God’s word fills your heart, your mouth will open in wisdom.
This is why the righteous take out time to hide God’s word in their heart, and their words are like food to the hearers.
If you sit by a righteous person for counselling, what you will hear within a few minutes will put you on the right path.
Even the foolish hears the words of the righteous and receive wisdom.
Sinners hear the words of salvation from them.
The sick receives words of healing, while the hopeless receive encouragement from them.
You cannot listen to a righteous man or woman and not be impacted.
No wonder his mouth is called a well of life (Proverbs 10:11).
There is a fountain of goodness in the righteous, so that whenever they open their mouth, living waters flow out of it.
The righteous is a source of inspiration, and their words feed the faith of others, directing them to the path of righteousness.
You need to be conscious of the manner of speech you produce.
As a child of God, please watch your tongue.
Wise children of God must learn to use the power in their tongue effectively to pull down the strongholds of the devil in their lives and family.
I pray that your tongue will begin to yield fruits of peace and prosperity from this day in the Name of Jesus.
Prayer point: Father, help me to use my tongue to promote the cause of Your kingdom in Jesus’ Name.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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