Trees of Life

TREES OF LIFE

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
(Proverbs 15:1)

Oh, how powerful this Scripture is! The tongue may be a little member, but it can be a great force for good or evil. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). Spoken words can hurt feelings, destroy reputations, and even drive people to suicide. Words can also instill confidence, strengthen people, and put lives back together.

How many times have we seen someone with a kind spirit say a few words and bring peace to a troubled situation? We also have seen quick-tempered people who often "blow up" verbally and with grievous words stir up anger and cause hard feelings. In Proverbs 15:2, it says, "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth our foolishness". Wow! Our mouths can pour out foolishness! Do we really pay attention to what our mouths pour out?

If those who have spiritual knowledge are willing to share with others in a spirit of humility and love, then much good can be accomplished. This is true wisdom! Those who make insensitive comments and think nothing of spreading malicious gossip are fools.

Proverbs 15:4 says, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit". Witnessing to others about Christ's mercy and grace and His love for a sin-sick world is like being a tree of life. When we think about the number of people who are lost, the need is great for more "trees of life" which can offer the fruit of the gospel. Whereas a wholesome tongue offers healing, perverse speech can only wound. We should always choose our words carefully. If we don't, we can cause injury to someone's heart.

Jesus said, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". (Matthew 12:34) The world will know if your heart is right with God by the words you speak. You can try to disguise your speech, but the real you is certain to show through sooner or later. If you are having problems with talebearing or just general negative speech, seek God and ask Him to cleanse your heart and change your attitude. Christians, of all people, should seek to build people up, not tear them down. And guess what? This means our families, too!

We tend to think these scriptures apply to our speech with others, but fail to realize that it applies to our home life as well and even to our
families. We should be trees of life to our husbands and our children. We tend to take advantage of our families and lash out in unkind words because we think we can. This is sin. It is the fruit of darkness.

Let us examine our speech and our words. Let us set a goal to be trees of life in our speech and words. Who knows, maybe this could change a few hearts.