Good Medicine

A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

The spirit of a man can endure his sickness,
But as for a broken spirit who can bear it? (Proverbs 18:14)

Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

My benediction for you today:

May your speech be pleasant, pouring forth words of life for the healing of peoples and nations. May your heart be joyful. May your spirit be strong, a testimony of God's strength in you. May you encourage others, moving them from brokenness to wholeness, for the glory of God.

In The Produce Aisle.

With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied;
He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:20-21)

Those of us who have been Christians for a long time may have memorized Proverbs 18:21 at some point during our faith journey. Whether from personal study or practical experience, we've seen that words spoken over us by other people can be powerful. But, are we diligent to watch our own words? Just as food fills our stomach, speech fills our spirit. Our words are the nutrients that can build us up or wear us down. 

We can produce love, or indifference, or jealousy, or compassion, simply by speaking. Our body takes in each word— even the words we have spoken in reference to others— and Scripture asserts that the words hold so much power that they can affect us for ill or for good: death and life are in the power of the tongue. As we go through our day, let’s be careful to fill others (and ourselves) with the healthiest fruit our mouth can bear: words that please God and bless people.

Lord Jesus, Living Word, help me to speak words of life today. Amen.