Verse from Proverbs

“有人说话不慎，好象利刀刺人，智慧人的舌头却能医治人。”

‭‭箴言‬ ‭12:18‬ ‭

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭12:18‬ ‭

Unkind, thoughtless words hurt—sometimes badly, leaving wounds that went deeper and lasted much longer than a welt from a stone or stick.

Hannah certainly knew the sting of thoughtless words. Her husband, Elkanah, loved her, but she had no children, while his second wife, Peninnah, had many. In a culture where a woman’s worth was often based on having children, Peninnah made Hannah’s pain worse by continually “provoking her” for being childless. She kept it up until Hannah wept and couldn’t eat (1 Samuel 1:6–7).

And Elkanah probably meant well, but his thoughtless response, “Hannah, why are you weeping? . . . Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” (v. 8) was still hurtful.

Like Hannah, many of us have been left reeling in the wake of hurtful words. And some of us have likely reacted to our own wounds by lashing out and hurting others with our words. 

But all of us can run to our loving and compassionate God for strength and healing (Psalm 27:5, 12–14). He lovingly rejoices over us—speaking words of love and grace. 

Loving Father, 

thank You for the healing and hope we find in You. Help us to bring our hurts to You—and always to be mindful of the words we say. Give us the wisdom and patience to think before speaking.