Hi Everyone,
I want to let you know how excited I am that you have signed-up to begin the “52 Weeks 52 Verses” journey in 2015. Each week we will focus on a different verse to hide in our hearts. Our goal is not only to learn God’s Word, but to apply to our daily living each of the 52 biblical truths that we will spend time with each week. This week’s verse, from Proverbs 12:18, is a great place for us start. Read it along with me. “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
When we were kids we use to hear people say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Reckless, careless, insensitive words are spoken with no thought as to their impact on the life of the hearer. Oftentimes this results in feelings that are crushed and relationships that are damaged.
I was talking to someone recently who is bi-polar. He said that his friends don’t know this about him, but on more than one occasion, when something has been said or done, one of his friends will say, “What are you bi-polar or something?” The words are said with no intent to harm, but whether they are meant to harm or not…they have.
The opposite of Proverbs 12:18 would have to be the lesson taught by Ephesians 4:29 where Paul writes, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” We need to be students of one another. We need to be thoughtful about the words we speak before we speak them.
Back to Proverbs 12:18 before we close out our time together. Careless, reckless words can sure do a lot of damage, but the second part of the verse is equally true: “the tongue of the wise brings healing.” If we will allow the truths of God’s Word to inform us and train us in how we speak to one another, then we can be a source of hope and healing to those who have been broken and hurt by reckless words. Let’s make this our goal this week.
Proverbs 12:18
