Our Daily Bread -- The Power of Words August 26, 2015

Read: Proverbs 18:1-8, 20-21 Bible in a Year: Psalm 119:89-176; 1 Corinthians 8 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. —Proverbs 18:21 Nelson Mandela, who opposed the South African apartheid regime and was imprisoned for almost 3 decades, knew the power of words. He is often quoted today, but while in prison his words could not be quoted for fear of repercussion. A decade after his release he said: “It is never my custom to use words lightly. If 27 years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are, and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die.” King Solomon, author of most of the Old Testament book of Proverbs, wrote often about the power of words. He said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). Words have the potential to produce positive or negative consequences (v. 20). They have the power to give life through encouragement and honesty or to crush and kill through lies and gossip. How can we be assured of producing good words that have a positive outcome? The only way is by diligently guarding our hearts: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (4:23 niv). Jesus can transform our hearts so that our words can truly be their best—honest, calm, appropriate, and suitable for the situation. —Marvin Williams Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 Our words have the power to build up or tear down. INSIGHT: The Insight for August 4 discussed two Hebrew poetic devices that mark Jewish poetry. In Proverbs 18 we see another poetic device, synonymous parallelism, which repeats the same thing in a similar way. Proverbs 18:20 is an example of this. “Fruit of his mouth” parallels “produce of his lips,” while “shall be satisfied” lines up with “shall be filled.” As you read through the proverbs, see if you can find other examples of synonymous parallelism. Bill Crowder Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

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Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.   Our Daily Bread Ministries | 3000 Kraft Ave | Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Manage Your Subscription