The way that we speak as people can have many different affects. We can use our words to communicate, to build people up, and to tear people down. Far too often, I find myself using my words to hurt myself and others, and I imagine I’m not alone. It doesn’t seem like such a harmful thing at first, however, our words are much more powerful than we really think.

The book of Proverbs has many statements about words and the effect that they can have. Let’s look at a couple.

“A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.” (Proverbs 18:7)

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24)

While these verses both speak on the power of words, they have very different meanings. The fool’s mouth and words are described as a “snare” and his “ruin”. Those words have very negative implications, revealing that a fool’s words, which are likely negative and harmful, lead to his ruin and trap his soul. However, gracious words are sweet to the soul and provide health.

That may sound extreme, but it’s clear to see in our lives. I find that a compliment is the greatest and quickest way to get a smile on someone’s face, and giving others compliments always puts a smile on mine. On the other hand, I can randomly think of an insult from years ago and have it on my mind all day. I believe it’s clear that our words can affect others, just from looking at scenarios like those, but many don’t realize the affect it has on themselves.

Let’s look at Proverbs 18:7 again.

“A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.” (Proverbs 18:7).

The Proverb states that a fool’s lips are a snare to his soul. While this may seem small, the Proverb could’ve used “the” in the same place, but it specifically noted that it ensnares the fool’s soul.

How often do we trap and ensnare ourselves with our own words? It is so common to see people saying they can’t do something or call themselves something that they aren’t. We can really limit and hurt ourselves with how we speak about ourselves.

Proverb 18:21 states that “death and life are in the power of the tongue”.

This means that when we speak about ourselves and others, we can either speak life or we can speak death. Let’s all do ourselves a favor, and begin to speak life over each other and ourselves.