The Awesome Power of the Tongue

The power of the tongue can be toxic or tonic! It’s absolutely incredible in its capacity to help or hurt. Words can cheer you up or plunge you into a pit of doom and depression . . . “Life and death are in the power of the tongue” — King Solomon

“The tongue can no man tame. It is a world of iniquity, an unruly evil, full of deadly poison, therewith we bless God and curse man”. These are the words of the Apostle James, as penned in chapter three and verses eight and nine of his epistles in the Holy Bible. James says that from creation, men have been able to tame every kind of beast. The tongue, however, has been way beyond man’s ability to control. The tongue is a little member that “sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire by hell itself, and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster” (James 3:6). The power of the tongue is awesome and fascinating. It’s absolutely incredible in its capacity to help or hurt. Words can make us or break us. Words can cheer you up or plunge you into a pit of doom and depression. Psychologists, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists will tell you that the use of the amazing power of words, plays a key role in their noble professions. The therapeutic power of those apparently insignificant syllables and decibels works wonders in addressing the critical, emotional and psychological needs of the hurting.

For us who deal with the spiritual and related needs, we are firmly charged by our Lord to use our tongues to bring faith, grace, life and healing to His creation. Christ says in John 6:63: “... the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Whether its preaching, teaching, counselling or singing, we are strictly commissioned to minister life. Wise man Solomon says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Pro 18:21). Note the phrase “power of the tongue.” There is indeed “a power” — real power — in the tongue. It’s a power that has the capacity to kill or to give/preserve life. We hear of people who “talk themselves to death” by constantly dwelling on the negative, pessimistic side of everything. Others talk their marriages to death! And there are those who talk their dreams and visions to death! The power of words can be heavily toxic. The toxic tongue is real — and also deadly. Primarily, Adolf Hitler spoke just two words, “Kill them,” and six million Jews were slaughtered in his Holocaust. Bin Laden would have used his nefarious tongue in a similarly lethal way, to bring to reality the hellish atrocities of 9/11.

The marriages that have gone on the rocks, the number of domestic violence cases and the number of instances of deep, excruciating emotional pains, all caused by this “unruly evil,” can hardly be counted. Violence erupts in the home, the community and the schools, because of the evil of words — toxic words. Toxic, caustic, crass, crude and indeed, careless words, have brought the separation of innumerable best friends. In fact, those words have done quite a remarkable job at turning best friends into worst enemies. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov 15:1). Job lamented to his friends who had turned on him, “You have cut me to pieces with your words” (Job 19:2). The Scriptures also tell us that “out of the heart are the issues of life” (Pro 4:23). Another verse says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:34). By correlating the verses, we discover that the words which come from our mouths, actually originate in our hearts and play a significant role in shaping and determining the issues of our lives.

King Solomon also declared: “The tongue of the wise is health” (Prov 12:18). People who are wise use their tongues to positively affect their health. They make positive confessions and declarations — consistent with God’s Word — about their health. This helps their minds because “faith comes by hearing” (Rom 10:17). Apart from this, Jesus says, “You shall have what you say in faith” (Mk 11:23). Speaking healthy, pure words about others and avoiding assertions of malice, bitterness, envy and the like, also affects one’s physical health and general well-being in a positive way. The Apostle Peter gives one of the most striking pieces of revelation on this: “He that will love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile” (1 Pet 3:10).

In my teachings on the power of the tongue, I speak about what I call “mouth management.” James says if any man can master the management/control of his tongue, the “same is a perfect man” (James 3:2). The Apostle Paul advises us to “study to be quiet” (1 Thess 4:11). Simply put, we need to know when to speak and when to shut up; what to say and what not to say! And, above all, we need to keep our hearts pure, so our tongues will be pure. This is so since, “out of the heart comes the words of our mouths” (Matt 12:34).
The conclusion is: A pure heart produces a pure tongue. This means that we’ll have tongues that are tonic not toxic!