ARE YOU A “SPEAK WORDS OF LIFE” OR “DESTRUCTION” KIND OF PERSON?

I can be both of these, depending on the day.

Proverbs 13:2-3
From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence. He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about how the things we speak affect our lives. The first part of verse 2 says that good will come to us by the things we speak. Gracious words will bring favor to those who speak them, while an evil, disrespectful mouth will produce the opposite.

We all like to be around people who are kind and considerate, while we try to avoid those who speak rudely and crudely. Words are creative. Good words create an atmosphere of love. On the other hand, evil words create the opposite kind of environment; one that is offensive. God Himself, created the world by the words that He spoke. In the beginning He spoke and it was so. Genesis 1:3: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

If we speak the things that the Bible declares are true, we will be agreeing with God's Word, and by so doing we will create an atmosphere where faith can rise in our hearts.

However, if we speak doubt and unbelief, it will destroy our faith. What comes out of our mouths reveals what is in our hearts. Therefore, if we find things coming out of our mouths that are not edifying, we should repent, and ask God to cleanse our hearts.

Things just do not accidentally come out of our mouths. Those things were in our hearts, even though we might not have been aware of them. Words of evil -- such as jealousy, lying, gossip, fear, doubt, hatred, resentment, pride, selfishness, etc. reveal those very things in our own hearts. We all, at times, slip and say things that we wished we had not said. Each time we correct our speech and repent for those kinds of things, we will find that soon good things will be coming out more abundantly than evil things.

If we align our words with the Word of God we shall be blessed, however if we just allow anything to come out of our mouths, verse 3 in Proverbs 13 tells us that it will cause us ruin. We must guard our mouths and not allow the devil to use our mouths to speak evil things that bring destruction on us and others.

We can be cursing others by speaking wrong things against them or about them. I am asking God to help me keep my mouth from saying wrong things like David did in Psalms. “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.”