Proverbs 18:21 Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will hurt forever

5/4/10

Time Spent: 15 min

Main Idea: The power of words is great

What I Learned about God: God's Words are to be valued because that is the antidote for our strife with words.

Summary: The old adage, "the pen is mightier than the sword" may reign true, but more on the personable level one might say that the "tongue is mightier than the sword". In this verse, it shares that death and life are in the power of the tongue. The recurring theme of "words" found in Proverbs are used to share the grave seriousness of using speech in a God-glorifying wise way. The tongue's power comes from two qualities;

1. Penetration - What is done to you is of little account beside what is done in you. Proverbs 12:18 shares that words have the power to pierce like a sword, causing a wounded spirit. Other ideas such as one's attitude, self-esteem, beliefs, and convictions are all formed and exercised through the sharing of words.

2. Spread - Words implant ideas in other minds, whether for good or for bad. It states that a perverse man spreads strife with his words (16:27), showing the spreading power of words.

In these two forms, one can see that there's no one immune to the use of words. Words are what forms the person and in them control death and life.

Application: I can relate to the power of words today. Discussing the chapel with a classmate, I flippantly just said when a classmate asked who spoke as it was, "some korean dude". One of my classmates found offense to it and admonished me somewhat harshly, saying his name was "Billy Kim and not some 'korean dude'". I was shocked at the response he said to me but I can understand where he was coming from. Words will always carry some weight around them, whether spoken or not. Understanding the weight of these words it was not him overreacting, but rather a bad choice of diction on my part. It is true what the Proverbs say, that many words are for the fool; but it is the righteous who limits his or her words. Dude, I need to be careful with my words!