The Power of the Tongue

When I was reading yesterdays Proverb of the day, 2 verses stuck out at me that I reread a few times. They were Proverbs 18:19 and 21 and read "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." vs.21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." I am by no means a Bible translator, but took these verses to mean it's so easy to offend someone with our words and so hard to restore what feelings may have been hurt or wall may have been raised now. It says, "their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Wow. That barrier between 2 people is now so strong that it may perhaps never come down. I don't even think I need to say anything about verse 21 other than that we all have a tongue and need to learn to use it wisely and think before we speak. How many times have we eaten the fruit of our negative words? We need to think before we blurt out those angry or hurtful words because we're frustrated, sick, or impatient- whatever the circumstances may be. I have one child who as of late, seems to be having a hard time controlling their tongue. I'm hearing the word hate way too much! Tomorrow I am going to read these verses to my children a few times until they understand just what they say, and how important they are.
I am totally guilty when it comes to these verses and know that even though in the past I have made things "right" through an apology, the damage is done and may be irreversible. May we by God's grace, all try to hold our tongues and choose our words wisely.





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