Healing or Hurt?

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. - Proverbs 12:18

The book of Proverbs is neither ironclad law nor heavy theology - it’s practical wisdom for those on the path following Jesus. In fact, many people have called the book of James the ‘Proverbs of the New Testament’ for how similar it is to the book of Proverbs.

James’ insists that ‘no one can tame the tongue’ and yet that we should nonetheless seek to change our hearts enough so that our tongues follow suit. One of the motivations to change is seeing the real life consequences to the words we speak.

Just today I (Bill) received a text from an old friend about a wound I’d caused with my words to him over ten years ago. What a reminder that the things we say make a different - piercing like swords or healing like medicine.

Ask for the grace today to speak words of healing and not wounding. And then put a reminder on your phone or dashboard or bathroom window to circle back to this at the end of the day: how did you do? Did you cut someone down? Did you give a blessing? Before you go to bed, is there time to make something right or to revisit a missed opportunity to bless?