Proverbs 18:21
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Proverbs 18:21

New King James Version (NKJV)

21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

This is a powerful verse. Every word we speak produces good fruit or bad fruit. What does this mean? What does “fruit” mean regarding words?  It means what we say affects each situation negatively or positively.  Our words impact our surroundings.

There’s no question that evil has increased considerably. Things are happening today that was never even thought of in past years.   People do things that are incomprehensible.  Evil is relentless.  So I wonder. Why is evil allowed to thrive in a world where there are Spirit filled, power walking believers?  What is our position in such a brutal society?

When God first created the world, it says He spoke things into existence that did not exist. That is how powerful God’s words are and we as His children are granted the privilege of having this same power when we use it in His name.

God has given us so many tools to use here on earth that will give us incredible victories and yet, most of us ride the waves of apathy and become careless with our words.   We are warriors in the Kingdom of light and responsible for taking back the territory the enemy has robbed from us. It is in our words that we do this. Our words can be uplifting and encouraging and nurture the ground so that others can grow and heal or our words can be bathed in doubt, fear or negative expression that oppresses those around us.  Our word come from our hearts and depending on our hearts being godly or fleshly, is the kinds of words that will come out of our mouths.  We need to learn how to speak all over again. 

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the desert, He used words only from scripture to fight and resist the devil. He knew the power and force behind the words that are God-breathed.  When we use words that curse or belittle or gossip we are restraining the holy angels from going forth on our behalf.  With our words we can agree with God or agree with the devil; the choice is ours and our choice determines what we love to speak. It is easy and uncaring to speak ungodly words, but it takes real effort and desire to speak words of love and faith.

Challenge:  Be mindful of the words you are using.  Choose to use the life-giving words of God from His word and bring God’s will to earth.

God bless

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.