What You Say

[Christ4Ever]

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

You choose. That’s the stark summation of the impact of our words. What we say can convey love, joy, peace, hope, courage—in a word, life—to another person. Or it can have exactly the opposite effect.

If what Jesus said is true (and of course it is), our speech arises from the depths of our being. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart,” the Lord told His disciples, “and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).

So the key to our speech is what’s inside us. We have a choice over that too. By filling our hearts and minds with better things, we can neutralize the poison that’s already there due to our sinful human nature. God’s Word—read, memorized, studied, and applied—is what grows the sweet fruit of good words. Scripture is, in fact, the seed, the fertilizer, and the water.

An old Sunday school song says, “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” It sounds almost too simple, but it’s true. Everything comes down to the Word God’s given us and oour response to it. Today, how will you choose?

Prayer: Father, I want my words to be fruit. May Your Word be my guide.

 

[lentz]

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

You choose. That’s the stark summation of the impact of our words. What we say can convey love, joy, peace, hope, courage—in a word, life—to another person. Or it can have exactly the opposite effect.

If what Jesus said is true (and of course it is), our speech arises from the depths of our being. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart,” the Lord told His disciples, “and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).

So the key to our speech is what’s inside us. We have a choice over that too. By filling our hearts and minds with better things, we can neutralize the poison that’s already there due to our sinful human nature. God’s Word—read, memorized, studied, and applied—is what grows the sweet fruit of good words. Scripture is, in fact, the seed, the fertilizer, and the water.

An old Sunday school song says, “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” It sounds almost too simple, but it’s true. Everything comes down to the Word God’s given us and oour response to it. Today, how will you choose?

Prayer: Father, I want my words to be fruit. May Your Word be my guide.

What sort of fruit the words bring can be argueable. It more or less depends on the speaker and the hearer as to how they relate to the words.
If it’s truth.then it is fruitful. The hearer may have hurt feelings,but it is fruitful if heeded too.
Jesus was pretty plain of speech,calling people snakes and dead men’s tombs. I imagine it hurt a lot of feelings,but was certainly fruitful if applied correctly.
The Lord was correct in saying we love darkness more than light. As long as it tickles our ears and don’t hurt our feelings,we’re happy. Otherwise we must run to our safe places and hide from truth.