As a Man Speaks – The Power of the Tongue
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE
How are you using your tongue?
Are you speaking life or death?
Do you understand the power of the tongue?
| Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. – Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) |
As a Man Speaks – The Power of the Tongue
A friend of mine was going through a difficult season in her life. As she shared about the challenges she was facing, I encouraged her to use words of life and hope about her circumstances, even if the difficult circumstances had not changed. Her response to me was that she did not want to speak dishonestly about how she really felt and thought it would be hypocritical if she did so. Hence, rather than speaking the promises of God regarding her situation, she continues to speak death and curses into her own life, fueling a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Unfortunately, my friend is not the only one who feels that way. Most of us do not understand the power of the tongue, and how the enemy can use it to reinforce his plan for our lives. We can control our lives by controlling what we say. Our lives and circumstances are the byproducts of the things we believe and the words we speak. By changing your words to align with the word of God by speaking His promises in faith, you will change your life, your circumstances, and your destiny.
Here are a few scriptures that speak to the power of the tongue:
- Your tongue has the power to bind and loose things in your life
“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 18:18 (NKJV) - Your tongue has the power to release both life and death
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. – Proverb 18:21 (NKJV) - Your tongue can define your destiny
Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. – James 3:3-6 (NKJV) - Your tongue has the power to condemn or to justify you
“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in
the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” – Matthew 12:36-37 (NKJV) - Your tongue has the power to defile
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” – Matthew 15:18 (NKJV) - Your tongue has the power to fuel gossip – or to stop it
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out;
And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. – Proverbs 26:20 (NKJV) - Your tongue has the power to bless the Lord or curse man
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in the similitude of God.
– James 3:9 (NKJV)
How are you using your tongue? Are you speaking life or death? When we align our speech with the word of God, then “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways” (Job 22:28 NKJV). This is the way that the tongue is designed to be used – to speak life and to glorify God. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all truth (John 16:13) so that your tongue becomes an instrument of life – for you and for those to whom you speak.
Choose to use your tongue to speak life to your business, to make a declaration of God’s plan for your life, and to articulate a preferred future. Remember, life and death are in the power of the tongue.
My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace to speak life into every situation and circumstance, so that you can realize your calling and purpose in the marketplace.
This devotional was taken from the book The Buck Stops With You, by Patrice Tsague and Gabrielle E. Tsague. To learn the other 8 virtues to take control of your life and realize your destiny, click on the button below to purchase the book:
This is so good! It’s a lie that words can’t hurt us, especially if uttered out loud! Oh, God, please help us to think only about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy! Because when we think about such things we will also speak them.
As christian we must be carefully not to get confused. Confessing defeat is not humility and confessing the promises of God is not being hypocrite or not accepting reality. The word of God teaches us to renew our mind daily so we confess the good things God has promised into our life!