Proverbs tells us how the tongue of the wise brings or promotes healing.
If we’re fortunate, we have known a wise man or woman, someone who spoke with love and truth specific to us and our situation. These mature people can be parents, grandparents, or others in the church. A healthy faith community will have several of these individuals, not just the pastors. Such mature people make us feel safe and encouraged, and they challenge us with hope and stability.
For me, I had an amazing grandma who spoke such words of wisdom, telling her stories and sharing her faith experience. I also had phenomenal saints of God who taught me a great deal growing up, even a couple influential mentors.
Exploring this proverb a little closer, we can further understand through contrast and encouragement what King Solomon is trying to teach us.
Where Can We Find “Tongue of the Wise Brings Healing” in the Bible?
Proverbs 12:18 says, “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
The verse highlights the benefits of wise words but also contrasts the wise with the rash and harsh. Reactive, angry words can wound others, almost like a physical attack. The tongue of the wise offers clarity and peace.
Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings, traditionally and generally attributed to King Solomon. Solomon reigned over Israel, God’s people, 1,000 years before Jesus, and God famously gifted Solomon with supreme wisdom, a spiritual anointing which led to Israel’s greatest financial and national success, including a long period of peace from enemies. The Bible tells us Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs, and collected others, and he preserved them in this book.
The book of Proverbs is gathered in the canon with the Old Testament genre called “Wisdom Literature” along with Job and Ecclesiastes. The book teaches how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowing the way things are and how they operate (Proverbs 1:7). God’s wisdom, since he created all things, leads us to the best life on earth and eternally. The sayings teach on topics like honesty, self-control, discipline, money, redemptive justice, and relationships.
While Solomon wrote or collected the majority of Proverbs (chapters 1-29), other writers include “the wise,” Agur (chapter 30), and King Lemuel (chapter 31). The poetic imagery and symbolism along with the practical and spiritual elements makes Proverbs a fascinating and impactful book.
In regard to Proverbs 12:18, it's helpful to look at the original Hebrew words used. The word for “tongue” comes from Lashon, which means that part of the mouth, but the Bible often uses it metaphorically to represent the way we talk and the words we use. Chakam means “wise” and describes someone who has a holistic wisdom, including the moral, practical, and spiritual. Proverbs expresses how wisdom comes from God, who alone knows how things work, and a true reverence for the Lord helps someone make the right and most beneficial choices. For “healing,” the verse uses mareph, which refers to different kinds of health or a cure. This could include healing for the spiritual, emotional, and reconciling relationships.
What Other Scriptures Warn Against Rash Words?
The Bible regularly teaches the importance of controlling the tongue, especially when we want to lash out in anger.
Proverbs specifically teaches more about this. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Difficult situations arise, but when we react with angry words, we stir up more conflict. Even when others speak angrily with us, our gentle and calm words can lead to more peace and understanding. Proverbs 29:11 shows us something similar: “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” Again, to vent our emotions means being controlled by them, and when angry, this can be fear and anxiety. Speaking from fear and anger only produces the same. However, a wise person understands this and restrains such words, choosing a different path that leads to reconciliation and healed relationships instead of more conflict.
In the New Testament, James 1:19-20 reveals how Jesus' followers live by the same wisdom. “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of a man does not produce the righteousness of God.” We see the same theme, how James encourages us to use spiritual self-control, one of the fruits of the Spirit, and choose to consider instead of emotionally react. Being slow to speak and slow to anger is a sign of maturity. Even when we are legitimately wronged, human anger doesn’t produce righteousness. Thank God he doesn’t choose to act in his anger but chooses mercy and love.
This doesn’t mean we don’t feel angry, only that we shouldn’t let our emotions control our actions. The apostle Paul says, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). A feeling isn’t sin. We can’t control that. However, it becomes dangerous to let feelings control us; this can give the Devil an opportunity to cause more damage and destruction.
What Does the Bible Say about the Value of Wise Words?
While God doesn’t want us to hurt others, his real goal is for us to be a blessing. Therefore, the Bible teaches us to use wise words to spread life and love.
As with the topic of harsh words, Proverbs continues to share wisdom. “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (Proverbs 16:24). This verse provides a great example of the artistry and poetry within the practical and spiritual messages shared in wisdom literature. Here, wise words are like something delicious, nutritious, and refreshing. A few chapters later, Proverbs 25:11 uses another image: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Wise words given at the right time in the moment are like a great treasure. Such mature speech brings clarity and promotes reconciliation and peace, priceless things in our broken world.
Jesus also spoke a few times about the importance of being intentional and careful with our words. “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). God speaks truth in love and for the good of all who will listen, not to tear anyone down. For Jesus disciples, those representing the Lord, he will hold us to account for how we spoke to and about others.
The apostle Paul wrote to churches to encourage them with spiritual truth and the life the Gospel produces. To the church in Ephesus, he shares, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Through the Spirit, we have the ability to use words that build up others, drawing them closer to heaven and the things of God. Our speech can give grace to those who listen. With such a powerful calling, God wants to use our words to bless others. Paul says something similar to the Colossian church: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6). Our words are so important that we should endeavor for every single conversation to bless others, even or especially when dealing with conflict and hardship.
How Can We Use Our Speech to Bring Healing Today?
Looking at Proverbs 12:18 and how the tongue of the wise brings healing, it teaches us important lessons.
To speak with wisdom, we must first become wise, and that begins with humility. Wisdom doesn’t randomly happen. We all have our opinions and emotions, and in times of difficulty, we naturally respond with harsh words or maybe we shut down. Wisdom comes from dedicating ourselves to God and humbly learning what he has to teach us when he lovingly correcting us. As Proverbs declares, all wisdom comes from God. Instead of trusting our own desires or emotions, we can slow down, seek God’s voice, and study the Bible. Wisdom grows as we follow God and submit to living his truth.
To grow in this wisdom, we train ourselves to have spiritual self-control, to not respond from our human nature or emotionally. This doesn’t mean we ignore our feelings. Suppressing them will only cause more frustration and a later outburst with harsh actions or words. We do something with our emotions: bring them to the Lord and cast our cares upon him, knowing he cares for us, and submit our temporary emotions to eternal truth. We don’t allow emotions to control our speech. We pause, pray, and seek words that encourage and build others up for healing, not hurt. Wise people practice this over time. And we need divine help.
Thankfully, God provides the help we need. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, and Jesus told us the Spirit would lead us to all truth, reminding us of Christ’s words (John 16:13). The Spirit empowers us to understand God’s Word, convicts and corrects us, and gives us the ability to respond with grace and love. The discipline of walking in relationship with God through the Spirit teaches us how to reflect his loving and wise nature.
Part of humility is asking for it, as James encourages us to do. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). God wants to give us wisdom. He longs to help us avoid wounding others and bless them instead with our words. The greatest discipline includes stopping, asking God for his revelation about our situation and the people we love, and having loving patience to trust the Father to share wisdom with us. He promises to provide it if we ask, and he keeps his promises.
When God shares wisdom with us for the current situation, we then speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). To love others means to act in everyone’s eternal best interest, even when it costs us something. The goal isn’t to win arguments but to love people and build them up.
When we humble ourselves and ask God for wisdom, applying ourselves to it, we can grow in speaking wise words that bring healing and hope to others.
Peace.
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