“The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4 NIV)

           Perverse is a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences. Now a perverse tongue from the Bible refers to speech that is twisted, dishonest, or contrary to God’s truth.  It represents a “crooked” way of speaking, including lies, gossip, slander, deceitful manipulation, and demeaning another person.  This comes from a mean spirit, a dishonest person, a narcistic person, or a self-centered person.  Which can cause emotional harm, division and the hurting of another person.

           In the scripture for today it highlights the power of speech, stating that a gentle, soothing, or wholesome tongue acts as a “tree of life” bringing healing and encouragement instead of speaking in deceitful, harsh words that crush or can break a spirit.

           It emphasizes that wise, kind, and considerate words build up a person while mean and spiteful words cause emotional destruction.  For words do hurt, tear down and are destructive to another person.  

We all know someone whose harsh words have hurt us.  And we all have said things to others that have hurt them.  Learning to be intentional and thoughtful before we speak is part of our journey with God.   Learning to take a moment to filter our words can turn a potentially harmful situation into a situation of kindness and encouragement. The old saying, “think before you speak” is true.  It is something to remember.  It is something for us to learn to do. God Bless.  Amen.

denise