Proverbs 18 : 21

[l'Chante]

What does this verse mean?


21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Does this refer to confessing Jesus?

 

[theLords]

It's more than that!

James 3:1-12

Taming the Tongue

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Proverbs 23:7
As a man thinketh in his heart so he is.

 

[theLords]

There is power in the tongue. With His tongue God spoke and it was. He gave us this same power. When we speak Scripture the enemy has no choice but to flee from us. The enemy hates hearing it. At the same time, we have the power to murder the hearts of men with our tongues. What we speak gives birth to live or death. What we speak can uplift and turn someone to Christ or destroy and turn them away from Christ. The spoken word is very powerful!

Hope that helps

 

[Nathan]

I have pondered this for a while. And the fact is that I cannot see anything to add to the posts above.

What I might add, if anything, is to address your question specifically.

Does this refer to confessing Jesus?

Yes and No.

Is this a specific 'prophecy' regarding those who confess Christ as Lord? No.

Does it speak about those who do? Yes.

Luk 6:43 "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

Luk 6:44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

Luk 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

I am not a big fan of some of the paraphrased translations of the Bible. But this is one case where it comes in handy. But overall I would never suggest using them for study. In this case, however, it gives us a little bit better understanding of what the proverb is saying.



Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life.


See, the proverb is saying that those who love to use their tongue, to communicate who 'like to talk a lot', will eat the fruit. Well, anyone who talks will eat their fruit, in all honesty. But the proverb is directing it toward those who have 'loose lips'. lol.

Jam 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

The person who is 'quick' to speak, "loves to use their tongue", is the one who does not realize that has the influences on others that it truly has. Like the posts above are pointing out.

The proverb is saying that once you have spoken a word, you are going to eat it. Good or bad. Jesus also said it this way;

Mat 12:34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

I hope this helps. The best thing is to ponder that one translation of the verse and let God speak to you with the rest of these.

 

[l'Chante]

Thank you both. I was a little concerned as I heard some one use it completely out of context once, and the explanation given was fairly convincing. I just wanted to make sure.